Eutrophication, or the enrichment of lakes and reservoirs with plant nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, is an ongoing concern facing human societies around the world. Once thought to have been resolved using engineering approaches such as municipal wastewater treatment and storm water management, the problem of nutrient enrichment not only persists, but even continues to increase, being manifested in harmful algal blooms, limitations on access to safe drinking water supplies, and related concerns associated with fresh water in lakes and reservoirs. The continuing concern surrounding eutrophication fulfils the many attributes of a 'wicked' or complex problem facing society. This report reviews seriatim the ten attributes of a wicked problem, and the implications of these attributes for lake and reservoir management are discussed. Recognition of eutrophication as a wicked problem requires site-specific approaches, based on specific knowledge of individual water bodies, as well as an ongoing commitment to lake and reservoir management to respond to new manifestations of the problems of nutrient enrichment as they continue to be revealed over time.Key words eutrophication, eutrophication management, integrated lake basin management, lake and reservoir management, payments for improving ecosystem services at the watershed-scale.

A survey of stream fish communities was conducted in the upper Des Plaines River watershed in Illinois and Wisconsin to determine the distribution of fish species and to evaluate the effects of tributary spatial position, urbanization, and multiple low-head dams on fish species diversity and species composition. Forty-eight sites upstream of Salt Creek in Illinois to the headwaters in Wisconsin were surveyed between 2002 and 2004. We found that fish species diversity decreased as agricultural land was replaced by urban land. In addition, tributary position within the drainage network caused significant differences in fish species diversity; specifically, we found significantly less fish species diversity in main-stem tributary streams located lower in the drainage network than in similarly sized streams located in the headwaters of the drainage area. Fish species composition, determined by multivariate principal components analysis, also showed significant differences among stream position within the drainage network. Increases in urbanization did not have a significant effect on fish species diversity within undammed tributary sites, but it did have a strong influence on fish species composition. Hence, as urbanization increased in these undammed tributaries, the fish species composition changed from coolwater-riverine specialist to warmwater-riverine generalist assemblages. In contrast, for tributary streams with low-head dams, the presence of dams had a greater effect on fish species composition than urbanization. In addition, the presence of multiple low-head dams on the main stem had a cumulative detrimental effect on fish species diversity, which decreased along an upstream-to-downstream gradient. Consequently, it is important to consider tributary spatial position within the drainage network, the amount of urbanization, and the number and locations of dams when characterizing the structure of warmwater fish communities, especially in relation to the development of restoration plans in highly urbanized or urbanizing watersheds.[Article] FIGURE 1.-Locations of the study area and the 48 sample sites in the upper Des Plaines River watershed. 1022 SLAWSKI ET AL.

This study discusses some fundamental institutional rationales to support the participatory approach of integrated lake basin management (ILBM). Based on five propositions for institutional change embodied within evolutionary economic thinking, an institutional change pathway (ICP) framework is constructed composed of eight institutional factors and four socioeconomic constraints. By merging the ILBM governance themes with the ICP institutional factors and socioeconomic constraints, an ILBM‐ICP matrix is developed. The ILBM‐ICP matrix indicates ILBM has focused on institutional factors of (i) opportunities, (ii) choices and (iii) incentives, with lesser emphasis on (iv) competition, (v) investment and (vi) payoff. For a more balanced institutional foundation for ILBM, incorporation of the financial mechanism of payments for improving ecosystem services at the watershed scale (PIES‐W) forms an effective complement to the ILBM concept. PIES‐W features the rationale of coordinating human stakeholders’ conservation services (CS) for improving ecosystem services with human stakeholders’ needs for ES as a basis for survival. This study calls upon the political and scientific communities to merge their visions and coordinate their actions in leading institutional improvement of ILBM so as to contribute to sustainable ecosystem governance.

The Wisconsin (USA) Lakes Partnership is a coalition of academic, advocacy and regulatory entities focused on ensuring effective conservation of the State's natural and water resources. This report summarizes a successful application of the Partnership concept through a case study describing the process that led to the development and implementation of a River Protection Plan for the Mukwonago River Watershed. In addition to the actions of individual landowners, a planning programme sponsored by special purpose units of government, funded in part by the State of Wisconsin and in part by non‐governmental organizations, and conducted by a regional planning authority in partnership with local universities and governmental agencies led to the development of the Mukwonago River Watershed Protection Plan, the contents of which were validated and guided by stakeholders through a Watershed Team and ad hoc Advisory Group. The Watershed Team secured and provided in part the necessary financial support for the conduct of the planning programme, while the Advisory Group identified concerns and validated recommended responses to address the shared issues of concern. The resulting watershed protection plan sets forth a strategy for the maintenance and protection of the high‐quality water resources of the Mukwonago River Basin.

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