Nature as the “Natural” Goal for Water Management: A Conversation

Abstract

The goals for water-quality and ecosystem integrity are often defined relative to "natural" reference conditions in many water-management systems, including the European Union Water Framework Directive. This paper examines the difficulties created for water management by using "natural" as the goal. These difficulties are articulated from different perspectives in an informal (fictional) conversation that takes place after a workshop on reference conditions in water-resources management. The difficulties include defining the natural state and modeling how a system might be progressed toward the natural, as well as the feasibility and desirability of restoring a natural state. The paper also considers the appropriateness for developing countries to adopt the use of natural as the goal for water management. We conclude that failure to critically examine the complexities of having "natural" as the goal will compromise the ability to manage the issues that arise in real basins by not making the ambiguities associated with this "natural" goal explicit. This is unfortunate both for the western world that has embraced this model of "natural as the goal" and for the developing world in so far as they are encouraged to adopt this model.

Impact of the European Water Framework Directive on local-level water management: Case study Oxunda Catchment, Sweden

“…As pointed out by Bishop et al (2009) the implementation of the directive constitutes a process of learning. Since the intermunicipal water cooperation was already established before the decisions regarding the WFD were made and was influenced by the discussions within the European Union concerning management according to natural boundaries, it is expected that the interviewees are well-informed.…”

Saving the Baltic Sea, the Inland Waters of Its Drainage Basin, or Both? Spatial Perspectives on Reducing P-Loads in Eastern Sweden

“…3 Percentage of arable land in catchments of the NBS-RBD, versus a anthropogenic P-load to the catchment outlet per unit catchment area, and b percent eutrophicated water bodies reasonable it is to achieve the WFD goal of equally good ecological status in all catchments, regardless of population pressures, production outputs, valued landscape characteristics, downstream impacts, and costs for abatement measures (Glavan et al 2012;Gren and Destouni 2012). The difficulties involved in the definition of undisturbed conditions and the WFD ambition of achieving them are further discussed by Moss (2008) and Bishop et al (2009).…”

“…Furthermore, since catchments with high total Ploads do not necessarily have high internal eutrophication (and vice versa), many catchment-specific measures could most likely not simultaneously address P-load and eutrophication problems in an efficient way. There is, therefore, a need to find reasonable compromises, which for instance can be obtained through shifting focus further toward regionally adapted goals and solutions (Volk et al 2009;Glavan et al 2012;Friedland et al 2012), supported by dialogs between politicians, scientists, managers, stakeholders, and nongovernmental organizations (Bishop et al 2009;Ioris 2012).…”

Managing Forests for Water in the Anthropocene—The Best Kept Secret Services of Forest Ecosystems

“…A system in baseline condition expresses attributes within the range of natural variation in the absence of human activity. However, as climate change intensifies and systems evolve beyond historic analogues, the concepts of baseline condition and natural range of variation are no longer useful or even desirable as management objectives (e.g., [80,81]). With accelerated anthropogenic and global stressors, we are increasingly moving our ecosystems outside of the range of natural variation.…”