Drawing Lessons from Regulatory and Collaborative Approaches to Water Management in Western United States and Canada

The laws and regulations governing water management in the western United States and Canada were created in the 19th century, founded on visions of bringing agriculture to an arid land and developing natural resources. In the early 21st century, fundamental elements of the legal landscape remain the same, but the social and environmental context has changed significantly. In the face of extended droughts and future climate change, shifting populations and economies, and increased recognition of environmental values and the needs of indigenous and other marginalized communities, this two-part session asks: how have western water institutions and management practices adapted? What new techniques have been developed to support alternative resource management goals?

The second in this two-part session will address themes around equity, power sharing, and knowledge systems affecting collaborative watershed management. Based on case studies and project work in western Canada and the U.S., panelists will consider how communities, agencies, and regulators are responding to some of the uneven power dynamics that shape watershed management decisions in practice. The panel will consider key issues of how institutions are addressing Indigenous sovereignty; how we can better facilitate data sharing to foster collective understanding; how to reexamine our assumptions about watershed scale; and how we can incorporate ecological functions and values as part of a long-term water conservation strategy. The panel will close with recommendations for how new watershed management institutions can address the situated perspectives of marginalized communities.

Paper Session Part 1

1545 Drawing Lessons from Regulatory and Collaborative Approaches to Water Management in Western United States and Canada: Part 1

Organizer(s): Esther Conrad, Stanford University

Chair(s): Tara Moran, Stanford University

Abstract(s):

2:40 PM 
Debra Perrone, Stanford University
Rebecca Nelson, Stanford University, University of Melbourne
http://meridian.aag.org/callforpapers/program/AbstractDetail.cfm?AbstractID=71248

3:00 PM 
Nicola Ulibarri, PhD, Stanford University
Collaboration in a Time of Scarcity: Hydropower Dam Relicensing During Extreme Drought

3:20 PM 
Esther Conrad, PhD, Stanford Law School Gould Center for Conflict Resolution and Water in the West Program, Stanford University
Regulating collaboration? Tensions between hierarchical and collaborative governance modes in California water governance

3:40 PM
Iris Hui, Stanford University
Evolution of Collaborative Governance: The Case of Integrated Regional Water Management in San Diego

4:00 PM
Thomas Favre-Bulle, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Is policy coordination the key to metropolitan collaboration on land-use, water and transportation? Individual support for collaboration between local governments in Californian metropolitan areas.

Paper Session Part 2

1645 Drawing Lessons from Regulatory and Collaborative Approaches to Water Management in Western United States and Canada:

Part 2 Organizer(s): Esther Conrad, Stanford University

Chair(s): Nicola Ulibarri, Stanford University

Abstract(s):

4:40 PM
Oliver M. Brandes, University of Victoria
The Western 17 States and Their Special Management Areas: A Legal Analysis of Groundwater Policies

5:00 PM
Tara Moran, Ph.D., Stanford University
Janet Martinez, Ph.D., Stanford University
Amanda Cravens, USGS
Marci DuPraw, Ph.D., California State University, Center for Collaborative Policy
Leon Szeptycki, Stanford University
Understanding Groundwater Data Collection, Use and Sharing Practices for Sustainable Groundwater Management in California

5:20 PM
Sibyl Diver, Stanford University
Beyond collaborative watershed management: Tribal sovereignty and sustainability on the Klamath River

5:40 PM
Daniel Reid Sarna-Wojcicki, PhD, University of California, Berkeley
Democratizing scale in Klamath collaborative watershed governance

6:00 PM
Discussant: Emma S. Norman, Northwest Indian College

Contact Info

Iris Hui, Associate Director, Academic Affairs
Email: irishui [at] stanford.edu