Improving Public Participation in Resource Protection: Case Studies in North-Central Idaho (original) (raw)
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States are determining the protection zones of sources of municipal water sources through Safe Drinking Water Act Legislation and USEPA guidance. The development of voluntary drinking water protection plans is immanent all across the United States. Second order type social theoretic principles were applied in the development of a model for increasing participant involvement and effectiveness in community drinking water protection planning within existing state programs. Evaluation measures for use by communities and to provide information to state and federal administrations were developed through the results of a state drinking water survey and 2 field experiments. Twelve north-central Idaho communities participated in a mapping experiment that tested selection and use of spatial data that included the state-determined source protection zones for each locale. Four communities additionally participated in a planning experiment that tested the selection of techniques to improve community member awareness and participation.
Public Involvement Techniques: A Reader of Ten Years Experience at the Institute for Water Resource
1983
This collection of articles documents, in a general way, that IWR contribution. While comprehensive, it is not definitive. We are still learning. However, the materials reflect the types and ways the Corps, as an organization, has attempted to meet new public involvement demands. As such, it is as important for what is absent as whit is included. We have tried to synthesize, by topic, the contributions of IWR staff and consultants. Throughout, further original source material is referenced for those desiring more "indepth" discussion. Prior to 1970, the participation of the public had been limited largely :. to formal public hearings on water resources studies. However, as early as July 1968, the Corps had initiated a research study by a University of Michigan research team consisting of Tho"as E. Borton, Katherine P. Warner and J. William Wenrich to explore techniques for improvlng conmunication between the public and the govrnmental agencies involved in comprehensive river basin planning. This study, titled "The Susqueha'na Communication-Ptrlctpation Study," was published as an IWR Report in December, 1e pages 38-395.) Reflecting the increased interest * technical aid. The IWR professional staff also continues to publish professional papers related to public involvement. Papers by Dr. Delli Priscoli and by C. M. Dunning are included in this reader to illustrate the issues dealt with by IWR staff. In addition there are numerous studies carried out by IWR on Social Impact Assessment end future studies which relate to public involvemen'%. Recently IWR has begun two major studies of hydroelectric power and the future of American waterways which themselves require public ... involvement. James F. Ragan has assisted in developing the public involvement program design for the hydroelectric study. Other IWR staff members have been conducting a study on the assessment of cumulative impacts, which has considerable public involvement elements. During the early 1970's, the Corps,,as well as other aqencies, focused on public involvement in planning. With the 1972 and 1976Federal Water Pollution' Control Acts, the Corps assumed major new responsibilities in wetlands protection and regulation. As the Corps' regulatory program has grown, so has the Corps' awareness of the central role of the public in a suc, cessful program. Thus, our most recent challenge has been to adapt.our ,-.. public involvement expertise to the expanded Corps regulatory program. James'L. Creighton, assisted by IWR staffers Dr. Delli Priscoli and Thomas Ballentine, has been developing a training program entitled "Public Involvement in Regulatory Functions." Fortuitiously, the Jac..sonville District of the Corps has been exploring innovative approaches to public involvement in regulatory programs, and this team conducted a two-day seminar for the entire regulatory staff of the district. An outgrowth of this seminar was the public involvement process followed.in developing a general permit on Sanibel Island.lO (See pages 373 and 396.) IWR assisted with partial funding of this process which was supervised by Merle Lefkoff, with facilitator training by Lorenz Aggens, and program evaluation by Judy A. Rosener. A five-day version of the regu-5 % '.
Beyond "Buy-In": Designing Citizen Participation in Water Planning as Research
In United States water resources management, water quantity planning (supply, availability, and use) fall within the domain of individual states. Because water is a shared resource held in trust for the use of a state's citizenry, its management obliges the involvement of water users. Under the above regime, states have much discretion concerning how to accomplish this. In state water planning, a variety of activities are considered stakeholder engagement. Natural resource management agencies often treat public participation as a chore for attaining legitimacy whose resources might be better used for technical aspects of planning. This paper details the public participation design for the 2015 Montana State Water Plan's Yellowstone Basin scoping phase. It argues that design of participatory practices is the key variable for successful participation. Stakeholders are experts whose knowledge can be incorporated into planning to inform priorities, corroborate biophysical data, and supply insights for communicating science and policy to citizens across specific localities.We argue that stakeholder engagement in water resources planning should be treated as research for the purposes of gathering and organizing social and biophysical truths. Through participant data approaches, citizen comments as data can improve the informational basis of planning and relational aspects. Public buy-in (legitimation) is not the objective of stakeholder participation; however, it can be a by-product of good design which suits the context and effectively uses citizen input to improve decision making. Using experience from basin-scale citizen advisory committees, this essay offers recommendations for water planners to design productive public engagement practices.
Public Perceptions and Responses to Water Resource Issues over the Last 35 Years in Idaho, USA
International journal of environmental impacts, 2023
Over the past 35 years, Idaho has implemented a comprehensive water outreach program aimed at addressing water resource challenges. This study employs a repeated measures survey strategy to assess the program's effectiveness. Initiated in 1987, a mail-based survey was designed to investigate various aspects, including water issues, satisfaction with drinking water, consumer observations of surface and groundwater quality, voluntary actions taken to protect and conserve water, and sources of water resource information accessed by Idaho citizens. The survey, featuring consistent questions, has been administered at five-year intervals (
Enhancing Public Participation and Governance In Water Resources Management
Enhancing Participation and Governance in Water Resources Management (ISBN 92-808-1120-7), 2006
"Water resources management is the aggregate of policies and activities used to provide clean water to meet human needs across sectors and jurisdictions and to sustain the water-related ecological systems upon which we depend. Knowledge that is crucial for water management is distributed across governments, non-governmental organizations and the water users themselves. In most circumstances, water management aims to address the interests of and integrate usage across hydrologically meaningful units, such as watersheds. Some management aspects, however, such as transboundary flows across multiple basins and inter-basin water transfers via channels or virtual water, may necessitate a broader geographical scope. The authors identify successful mechanisms, approaches and practices for promoting public involvement in water resources management, including both conventional approaches and those based on information technology."
Public involvement in the Red River Basin management decisions and preparedness for the next flood
Http Dx Doi Org 10 3763 Ehaz 2002 0411, 2011
The focus of this study is public participation in the water resource and associated hazards management decision-making processes. It explores the importance, feasibility, and effectiveness of public participation in the flood management, decision-making process, with particular attention to the case of the Red River Basin of Manitoba, Canada. The nature and efficacy of public participation in the hearings conducted by the International Joint Commission (IJC) in the aftermath of the 1997 Red River flood are critically reviewed. The results of the analysis suggest that the IJC has been more sensitive to the views of the public and concerned stakeholders than the Red River Basin Task Force. The IJC incorporated a substantial portion of the opinions, suggestions, and concerns expressed by the public into the final recommendations produced by the commission for the Canadian and American federal governments. Public participation was an integral component of the IJC hearings, and was expected to contribute to flood preparedness in the future. The reasons for such accommodation of public and the stakeholders' views in decision-making are primarily attributed to making the proposed projects and programs socio-economically and politically feasible. Because of their general characteristics, the lessons from the case of the Red River Basin could be used as an effective tool in other resource and environmental hazard management areas. r
2018
More than a century after the Supreme Court issued its foundational Indian water law cases, only a handful of American Indian tribes have secured decrees or settlements of legally enforceable water rights. Efforts to resolve tribal water claims are typically hampered by legal and factual complexities as well as the equitable and political legacy of the United States’ western expansion. Meanwhile, those difficulties notwithstanding, planners are refining their methodologies and rising to new challenges our water resource management systems now face (e.g., climate variability, aging infrastructure, changing usevalue priorities, etc.). Signaling a departure from exclusive reliance on formal dispute resolution mechanisms for facilitating tribal-state engagement on water resource issues, states have begun to engage tribal governments in collaborative water planning efforts. While planning cannot serve as a substitute for the enforceable legal finality of a decree or congressionally appro...
Public participation in water resources management
IWRA XIV World Water Congress, (s.n.) 2011, p. 1., 2011
Individuals and affected communities are often excluded from decision-making processes regarding the use of water resources. However, in the last two decades, non-state actors have been increasingly integrated into water management processes. Some international instruments, such as the 1998 Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, put emphasis on access to information and transparency in natural resource management. Public participation – encompassing the rights of individuals and groups to have access to information and participate in decision-making processes – is an increasingly common obligation in international agreements. Furthermore, mechanisms like the Aarhus Compliance Committee have been developed to providing individuals and groups direct access to decision-making procedures. The article identifies some of the main features of public participation in water management, drawing on the texts ...
The Role of Public Participation and Citizen Involvement in Lake Basin Management
Increasing exploitation of natural resources, inappropriate land-use practices, and uncoordinated sectoral policies and development activities in lake basins impair the various important functions of lakes throughout the world. New and innovative approaches to the management of lakes and their basins are urgently needed to ensure that these precious freshwater ecosystems continue to deliver their services. Stakeholder participation lies at the heart of the new policy approaches to management of lakes and reservoirs. The stakeholders in lake basin management are individuals or representatives of a group who make use of, have an impact on, or are impacted by the issue of concern. Experience from case studies on 28 lake regions from throughout the world shows that local communities and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are among those stakeholders that can significantly affect the outcome of management efforts in lake basins. The case studies clearly demonstrate that active community participation is vital to sustainable development in lake basin management. Effective participation of local communities in lake basin management depends on the degree of awareness among local communities of the important technical and social considerations. This is why the involvement of local communities needs to be accompanied by public awareness and information campaigns. Moreover, the involvement of local communities must be based on a sound understanding and appreciation of the local cultural beliefs, values and norms.