Negotiating the turbulent boundary: the challenges of building a science - management collaboration for landscape-scale monitoring of environmental flows

Abstract

With drought and climate change leading to increased water scarcity at a time of increasing consumptive demand, the provision of environmental flows is a potentially divisive issue. Demonstrating the ecological effects of environmental flows is thus important for supporting policy and management decisions. We describe the development of a multi-basin monitoring and assessment program for environmental flows in Victoria, Australia. We examine the challenges associated with negotiating the turbulent boundary between water science and water management when building a partnership between multiple partners with differing priorities, expectations and responsibilities. We describe the mistakes made and corrective actions taken, and present a critical analysis of the lessons learned. Strong science–management collaboration will be aided by: explicit recognition of the importance of the engagement process, establishing the partnership at the outset, assessing and understanding the disparate needs of individual partners, frequent articulation of the shared vision that motivated the collaboration, and providing sufficient opportunities for information exchange among partners. Cullen first described the challenges to science-management collaboration twenty years ago, but to some extent, the same mistakes continue to be made. Our real-world example shows that it is possible to develop a strong partnership, even when such mistakes are made at the outset.

Restoring a stream through retention of urban stormwater runoff: a catchment-scale experiment in a social–ecological system

“…The success of such large-scale, multistakeholder endeavors rests on the successful building of relationships and trust, a conclusion echoing those of others who have sought to bridge scientific research and riverine management (e.g., Cullen 1990, Tomlinson and Davis 2010, Webb et al 2010. Authors of such studies have often emphasized frictions between scientists and policy makers in building collaborations.…”

A General Approach to Predicting Ecological Responses to Environmental Flows: Making Best Use of the Literature, Expert Knowledge, and Monitoring Data

“…The data analyzed in this paper were collected through the Victorian Environmental Flows Monitoring and Assessment Program (VEFMAP; Webb et al ., ). In light of previous poor monitoring of environmental flow programs (Souchon et al ., ), VEFMAP was established in 2005 to maximize the Victorian government's chances of being able to detect effects of the state's environmental flow program.…”

Quantifying and predicting the benefits of environmental flows: Combining large‐scale monitoring data and expert knowledge within hierarchical Bayesian models

“…The Victorian Environmental Flows Monitoring and Assessment Program (VEFMAP) was established in the Australian state of Victoria in 2005 in a deliberate attempt to address the shortcomings of previous environmental flows monitoring programs (Webb, Stewardson, Chee, et al., ). It is a state government‐funded initiative that established compatible monitoring of fish assemblages, vegetation, water quality and channel form across 10 rivers that receive environmental flows (Figure ).…”