Successful watershed management and changes in water quality conditions are dependent upon changes in human behaviors. Those tasked with managing watersheds and other natural resources often assume that people are not acting to protect or restore their resources because they lack the necessary knowledge and understanding. However, individual behaviors are impacted by a variety of social, psychological, institutional, and economic factors that need to be understood for successful implementation of watershed management strategies. This paper provides an introduction to the field of human dimensions of watershed management, an overview of social science concepts that have been found to explain water-related behaviors, and how social information can be translated into actionable items in a management plan.

The Portage Waterway in Michigan's Upper Peninsula supports traditional Anishnaabe walleye (or ogaawag in the Anishnaabe language) spear‐harvesting for the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community (KBIC). Through reserved Indian treaty fishing rights, KBIC is highly involved in the waterway's stewardship and annual community spear‐harvest. Tribal leadership and fisheries personnel have long documented that annual harvests are far below sustainable quotas. The objectives of this research were to 1) understand the values and concerns of KBIC tribal members on Anishnaabe walleye (ogaawag) spear‐harvesting, 2) examine water temperature patterns during the spring 2018 harvest to seek insight on how harvests may be optimized, and 3) integrate Anishinaabe gikendaasowin or traditional knowledge with science and education. We conducted an online survey in February 2018, containing 27 questions, to gain preliminary insight on KBIC's perspectives of the annual walleye (ogaawag) spear‐harvest. Nearly all respondents highly value the spear‐harvest tradition personally and on behalf of the community. Similarly, nearly all agreed that it is important for the KBIC to manage its own fishery resources, and that the Tribe's Natural Resources Department effectively does so. Respondents also expressed concerns about factors that could impact their harvests, including environmental changes and confrontations with non‐Native residents. From May 1 to May 19, 2018, we deployed 13 Onset HOBO Pro V2 temperature dataloggers across the Portage Waterway to measure spring warming patterns in locations popular for spear‐fishing. This period encompassed the entire KBIC spear‐harvest season, with dataloggers recording water temperature every two hours. Temperature data show that management of the harvest season may need revision, as embayments and sloughs where spear‐fishing largely occurs warmed significantly earlier than other parts of the waterway. As the presence of walleye (ogaawag) in shallow waters depends on temperature, some parts of the waterway should be opened for harvesting earlier. Our findings will be prepared in a formal recommendation for KBIC leadership in efforts to increase harvests for the Tribal community that rely on walleye (ogaawag) as a sacred and traditional food source.

The United States has lost about half its wetland acreage since European settlement, and the effectiveness of current wetland mitigation policies is often questioned. In most states, federal wetland laws are overseen by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but Michigan administers these laws through the state's Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ). Our research provides insight into the effectiveness of the state's implementation of these laws. We examined wetland mitigation permit files issued in Michigan's Upper Peninsula between 2003 and 2006 to assess compliance with key MDEQ policies. Forty-six percent of files were out of compliance with monitoring report requirements, and forty-nine percent lacked required conservation easement documents. We also conducted site assessments of select compensatory wetland projects to determine compliance with MDEQ invasive plant species performance standards. Fifty-five percent were out of compliance. We found no relationship between invasive species noncompliance and past site monitoring, age of mitigation site, or proximity to roads. However, we found wetland restoration projects far more likely to be compliant with performance standards than wetland creation projects. We suggest policy changes and agency actions that could increase compliance with wetland restoration and mitigation goals.

Climate change and human population growth could reduce household water availability in the historically water‐rich Great Lakes region. It is critical to understand human‐water relationships in advance of policy actions that could result from reduced water supplies. Research on household water conservation typically occurs in a reactionary nature, in settings that are already water‐stressed. Furthermore, few studies involve Native American perspectives on this important topic. We used semi‐structured interviews to assess residents' perspectives of Great Lakes water resources and views on household conservation, involving distinct samples of Native American and non‐Native residents. Although interviewees deeply value the region's water resources, few practice household conservation or plan to do so in the future. Few perceive others in the region as conserving water. Beliefs about water‐related problems are focused more on water quality than supply. Native American interviewees expressed deeper spiritual values toward water than non‐Native interviewees. Findings can help inform policy and outreach strategies and provide a rich foundation for follow‐up quantitative research testing the Theory of Planned Behavior's ability to explain household conservation intentions in the Great Lakes region.

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