Conflict Management in Participatory Approaches to Water Management: A Case Study of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River Regulation

Abstract

Abstract:The International Joint Commission (IJC) has been involved in a 14-year effort to formulate a new water regulation plan for the Lake Ontario St. Lawrence River ("LOSLR") area that balances the interests of a diverse group of stakeholders including shipping and navigation, hydropower, environment, recreational boating, municipal and domestic water supply, First Nations, and shoreline property owners. It has embraced the principles of collaborative and participatory management and, applying a Shared Visioning Planning (SVP) approach, has worked closely with stakeholders throughout all stages of this process; however, conflicts between competing stakeholders have delayed and complicated this effort. The overarching aim of this paper is to consider the extent to which the SVP approach employed by the IJC was effective in managing conflict in the LOSLR context. Audio recordings and transcriptions of public and technical hearings held by the IJC in 2013 have been systematically analysed using stakeholder mapping and content analysis methods, to gain insight into the stakeholder universe interacting with the IJC on Plan 2014. The principal conclusions of this paper are that (a) the Shared Vision Planning approach employed by the IJC had some significant successes in terms of conflict management-particularly notable is the success that has been achieved with regards to integration of First Nation concerns; (b) there is a distinct group of shoreline property owners, based in New York State, who remain opposed to Plan 2014-the IJC's public outreach and participation efforts have not been successful in reconciling their position with that of other stakeholders due to the fact that this stakeholder group perceive that they can only lose out from any regulation change and are therefore unlikely to be motivated to engage productively in any planning dialogue; and (c) a solution would require that the problem be reframed so that this stakeholder can see that they do in fact have something to gain from a successful resolution, which may necessitate bringing the prospect of compensation to the table.

Stakeholder engagement in water governance as social learning: lessons from practice

“…Confirming the findings of Furber et al (2016), the WeSenseIt case showed that stakeholder involvement is not only highly dependent on a sound understanding of stakeholder responsibilities. It also relies on the stakeholders' perceived gains from the collaboration -and is less successful with those stakeholders who perceive the resulting outcomes, such as additional responsibilities, as a loss.…”

“…However, the actual dynamics in the engagement process mean that these positive outcomes are far from automatic or guaranteed, as increasing evidence shows (Behagel & Turnhout, 2011;Edelenbos & Klijn, 2006;Furber, Medema, Adamowski, Clamen, & Vijay, 2016). Stakeholder involvement implies -explicitly or implicitly -trade-offs in terms of representativeness, inclusion, or (in)equality in interactive processes (e.g., Sørenson, 2002;Mayer, van Bueren, & Bots, 2005;Sørenson & Torfing, 2007), i.e.…”

Water Governance, Stakeholder Engagement, and Sustainable Water Resources Management

“…A significant component of stakeholder engagement, therefore, may involve techniques for reducing conflict. In "Conflict Management in Participatory Approaches to Water Management: A Case Study of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River Regulation", Furber et al examine the ability of the participatory "Shared Vision Planning" approach to resolve conflicts in efforts to develop a new water regulation plan for the Lake Ontario and St. Lawrence River area [7]. They conclude that the approach succeeded when stakeholders perceived that they had something to gain from collaboration, but failed with stakeholders who perceived any change as a loss.…”

Untitled

“…Similarly, in USA, the Federal Clean Water Act (2002) suggests proper stakeholders' participation for the pollution free aquatic environment [39]. Furber et al [40] also urged the stakeholders' participation for the quality improvement of Lake Ontario in Canada through conflict management among the stakeholders. Accordingly, in the under developed African countries such as Kenya, Ghana the stakeholders' participations have been encouraged for the better water resources management through awareness raising and conflict reducing [41,42].…”