Rob de Loë

Adaptation options for the near term: climate change and the Canadian water sector

Abstract Climate change poses significant challenges for the Canadian water sector. This paper discusses issues relating to the selection of proactive, planned adaptation measures for the near term (next decade). A set of selection criteria is offered, and these are used in three cases to illustrate how stakeholders can identify measures appropriate for the near term. Cases include municipal water supply in the Grand River basin, Ontario; irrigation in southern Alberta; and commercial navigation on the Great Lakes. In all three cases, it is possible to identify adaptations to climate change that also represent appropriate responses to existing conditions; these should be pursued first.

Exploring complex policy questions using the policy Delphi: A multi-round, interactive survey method

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to outline the research strategy used to explore a complex policy question relating to climate change and water management. The research strategy used had two components: a multi-round, interactive survey of water users and managers in a watershed, followed by a workshop attended by a small core group. The survey technique used was the policy Delphi, which is distinguished from its cousin, the conventional Delphi. The two techniques share the name ‘Delphi’, but little else. Strengths and weaknesses of the policy Delphi are highlighted in the paper. Strengths include the fact that the survey can be used to facilitate interaction in groups of up to 50 people. Arguments around policy issues can be identified and evaluated by the respondent group. Importantly, this can be achieved at little cost, relative to alternatives such as workshops. An important shortcoming of the policy Delphi is a tendency to breadth but not depth in the survey product. Therefore, among the guidelines offered is the suggestion that policy Delphi surveys should be used as precursors to workshops or interviews. In the study upon which this paper was based, the policy Delphi survey was used to identify and evaluate in a preliminary fashion appropriate responses to the problem of atmospheric warming. A workshop, building on the survey, was used to focus a core groups attention on implementation.

A Systematic Review of Water Vulnerability Assessment Tools

The important relationship between health and water necessitates consideration of water vulnerability. Water vulnerability is contingent upon biophysical and social drivers operating at multiple scales, and is difficult to assess. This paper offers a systematic review of 50 water vulnerability assessment tools. We identify and synthesise the contents of these assessment tools (710 indicators) into five dimensions and 22 sub-dimensions and consider the extent to which they reflect environmental and social aspects. The findings are discussed in light of a holistic approach to water resources management, and specifically Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM). Significant opportunities exist to enhance the efficacy of water vulnerability assessment tools by incorporating indicators and operational measures for social considerations (e.g., adaptation, institutions, governance) that are developed outside the context of water.

Adaptive Comanagement and Its Relationship to Environmental Governance

We provide a systematic review of the adaptive comanagement (ACM) literature to (i) investigate how the concept of governance is considered and (ii) examine what insights ACM offers with reference to six key concerns in environmental governance literature: accountability and legitimacy; actors and roles; fit, interplay, and scale; adaptiveness, flexibility, and learning; evaluation and monitoring; and, knowledge. Findings from the systematic review uncover a complicated relationship with evidence of conceptual closeness as well as relational ambiguities. The findings also reveal several specific contributions from the ACM literature to each of the six key environmental governance concerns, including applied strategies for sharing power and responsibility and value of systems approaches in understanding problems of fit. More broadly, the research suggests a dissolving or fuzzy boundary between ACM and governance, with implications for understanding emerging approaches to navigate social-ecological system change. Future research opportunities may be found at the confluence of ACM and environmental governance scholarship, such as identifying ways to build adaptive capacity and encouraging the development of more flexible governance arrangements.

Understanding stewardship behaviour: Factors facilitating and constraining private water well stewardship

Regulatory frameworks to ensure municipal drinking water safety exist in most North American jurisdictions. However, similar protection is rarely provided to people reliant on water provided from private wells. In Canada, approximately 4 million people depend on privately owned, domestic wells for their drinking water. Numerous studies have shown that people who rely on private wells for their water supplies are at risk from nitrate and bacterial contamination. Given the fact that regulations relating to private wells tend to be weak or poorly enforced, actions taken by well owners to protect their own drinking water safety are extremely important. Drawing on one of the largest and most comprehensive surveys of private well owners ever conducted in Canada or elsewhere, this paper explores factors that influence well owner stewardship behaviour. Key behaviours examined included annual testing of well water and inspection of wells, measures to protect water quality, and proper decommissioning of unused wells. A geographically-stratified survey, sent to 4950 well owners in Ontario, Canada, resulted in an effective response rate of 34% (n = 1567). Logistic regression analyses revealed that motivations for well stewardship behaviours included reassurance, the perception of problems, and knowledge of the environment. Knowing how to perform stewardship behaviours was an important antecedent to action. Barriers to stewardship included complacency, inconvenience, ignorance, cost, and privacy concerns. To promote stewardship, local initiatives, better educational materials, and enforcement through real estate laws are all required. Ultimately, drinking water safety for people reliant on private wells is shown to be a responsibility shared by governments and private well owners.

Science–policy processes for transboundary water governance

In this policy perspective, we outline several conditions to support effective science–policy interaction, with a particular emphasis on improving water governance in transboundary basins. Key conditions include (1) recognizing that science is a crucial but bounded input into water resource decision-making processes; (2) establishing conditions for collaboration and shared commitment among actors; (3) understanding that social or group-learning processes linked to science–policy interaction are enhanced through greater collaboration; (4) accepting that the collaborative production of knowledge about hydrological issues and associated socioeconomic change and institutional responses is essential to build legitimate decision-making processes; and (5) engaging boundary organizations and informal networks of scientists, policy makers, and civil society. We elaborate on these conditions with a diverse set of international examples drawn from a synthesis of our collective experiences in assessing the opportunities and constraints (including the role of power relations) related to governance for water in transboundary settings.

Associated benefits and costs of the Canadian Flood Damage Reduction Program

Abstract Canadas Flood Damage Reduction Program (FDRP), launched in 1975, initiated a national shift away from reliance on flood control structures such as dams to the use of non-structural measures, including floodplain mapping and zoning. Previous evaluations of the FDRP have not captured the full range of benefits and costs associated with it. This paper reports on a systematic assessment of associated benefits and costs of the FDRP in the province of Ontario (that is, benefits and costs that are not related to the programmes primary objectives.) Using a two-round policy delphi survey involving 50 panellists with pertinent expertise, a broad range of associated benefits and costs was identified, relating to four broad areas (environmental protection, land-use planning, floodplain management and ‘other’). Panellists decided collectively that benefits such as improved administration of zoning in hazard areas and protection of important environmental features could be credited to the FDRP. In contrast, most of the additional costs – such as increased expenses for developers – were not considered important by the group. The paper concludes that the federal governments decision to wind down this important non-structural floodplain management initiative – based on the argument that it was a narrow, single-sector initiative – was lamentable.

Climate Variability, Climate Change and Water Resource Management in the Great Lakes

Water managers always have had to cope with climate variability. All water management practices are, to some extent, a response to natural hydrologic variability. Climate change poses a different kind of problem. Adaptation to climate change in water resource management will involve using the kinds of practices and activities currently being used. However, it remains unclear whether or not practices and activities designed with historical climate variability will be able to cope with future variability caused by atmospheric warming. This paper examines the question of adaptation to climate change in the context of Canadian water resources management, emphasizing issues in the context of the Great Lakes, an important binational water resource.

Appropriate Public Involvement in Local Environmental Governance: A Framework and Case Study

Public participation involving local people has become a basic principle of contemporary environmental governance. However, the extent to which members of the public are interested in, and capable of, being involved effectively in governance varies widely, and often is not addressed satisfactorily. Context is a key determinant of the appropriate degree of public involvement, but contextual factors that determine an appropriate degree of public involvement are not well specified. This article presents a framework that can be used to assess public involvement in local environmental governance. Five characteristics shape the appropriate degree of public involvement. The framework is used in a critical assessment of a process used to develop a water sharing plan for the Hunter River Catchment, Australia.

Power in Collaborative Approaches to Governance for Water: A Systematic Review

ABSTRACT This article uses a formal systematic review to examine the extent to which literature discussing collaborative approaches to water governance reflects understanding and awareness of power-related considerations. It makes the case that an analytical approach grounded in theory on power can facilitate assessment of the factors affecting collaboration by identifying the multiscalar, interrelated mechanisms through which power affects collaborative processes and outcomes. Through the review process, it became apparent that fully accounting for power will better enable scholars to link together seemingly disparate conditions for collaborative success (e.g., inclusion, decision-making power, capacity). A power-based approach also incorporates broad socioeconomic factors that fundamentally shape processes but often lie outside the analytical scope of local or regional studies on collaboration. Accounting for power, in the forms and scales identified, will result in better -designed, more effective collaborative approaches to water governance.