INVOLVING WATERSHED STAKEHOLDERS: AN ISSUE ATTRIBUTE APPROACH TO DETERMINE WILLINGNESS AND NEED

The development of effective solutions for addressing nonpoint source pollution on a watershed basis often involves watershed stakeholders. However, success in engaging stakeholders in collaborative decision making processes varies, as watershed managers are faced with the challenges inherent to fin...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the American Water Resources Association 2002-08, Vol.38 (4), p.995-1006
Main Authors: Smutko, L. Steven, Kimek, Suzanne H., Perrin, Christy A., Danielson, Leon E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coastal environments
collaborative decision making
Decision analysis
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Engineering and environment geology. Geothermics
environmental conflict resolution
Exact sciences and technology
Hydrology. Hydrogeology
Marine
Pollution
Pollution, environment geology
Resources
USA, North Carolina
water policy/regulation/decision making
water quality
Water resources
watershed management
watershed stakeholders
Watersheds
Wildlife conservation
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The development of effective solutions for addressing nonpoint source pollution on a watershed basis often involves watershed stakeholders. However, success in engaging stakeholders in collaborative decision making processes varies, as watershed managers are faced with the challenges inherent to finding the right process for the decisions needed and in successfully engaging stakeholders in that process. Two characteristics that may provide guidance for determining the appropriateness of applying a collaborative process to a watershed problem are the need to collaborate and the willingness of stakeholders to engage in a collaborative decision making process. By examining seven attributes of the issues confronted by stakeholders in a collaborative process, the consequences of these attributes on the need for collaboration and stakeholders' willingness to engage can be estimated. The issue attributes include: level of uncertainty, balance of information, risk, time horizon of effects, urgency of decision, distribution of effects, and clarity of problem. The issue attribute model was applied to two collaborative decision making processes conducted by the same watershed stakeholder group in a North Carolina coastal watershed. Need and willingness to engage did not coincide for either issue; that is, stakeholders were more willing to engage on the issue that required less need for their involvement.
ISSN:1093-474X
1752-1688
DOI:10.1111/j.1752-1688.2002.tb05540.x