STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT AND SOCIAL CAPITAL: KEYS TO WATERSHED MANAGEMENT SUCCESS IN ALABAMA¹

Abstract

Forces driving the initiation of watershed management activities in Alabama have ranged from top‐down, agency‐led initiatives to bottom‐up, citizen‐led initiatives. A number of watershed projects in Alabama were examined including three NPS projects funded by U.S. EPA grants and a more comprehensive locally‐initiated watershed management authority. Watershed projects were categorized into four different models. Factors which produced significant differences in the development and utilization of social capital and local capacities for watershed management were investigated. The success of watershed management initiatives was examined qualitatively and appears to correlate with a number of social factors. These factors include the extent of stakeholder involvement, the availability of social capital in the watershed, and the presence of a real or perceived water resource concern or problem. Both short term project success and the longer term prognosis for continued watershed management activities seems to depend most upon the amount of social capital in the watershed. Two major changes in resource management programs and organizations could lead to increased focus on and support for local watershed management initiatives. These are reorganization of resource management agencies around watershed units, and assignment of at least one staff person in each watershed unit to watershed management.

Trends, challenges, and responses of a 20-year, volunteer water monitoring program in Alabama

“…Together, and in various degrees of collaboration, the work of the environmental community has largely affected the rise of the state's environmental ranking from #50 in the early 1990s (Hall and Kerr 1991) to #38 in 2010 (Sauter et al 2010). Such progress underscores the findings of Mullen and Allison (1999), who stressed the importance of stakeholder involvement and social capital in Alabama.…”

Non-statutory barriers and incentives to stakeholder participation in reducing water pollution: A South African case study

“…Gaventa and Valderrama (1999) found that participation was positively correlated with the pre-existing level of citizen organisation (such as unions) in a Bolivian study, suggesting a degree of fluency in, and/or social encouragement of, participation. At the other end of the spectrum, complacency can be equally problematic (Mullen and Allison, 1999;Negra, 1998). In some cases, cultural norms may discourage or prevent participation by certain groups (Glew et al, 1995;Involve, 2005), while residents of certain regions may simply not have a history of active involvement (Mullen and Allison, 1999).…”

“…At the other end of the spectrum, complacency can be equally problematic (Mullen and Allison, 1999;Negra, 1998). In some cases, cultural norms may discourage or prevent participation by certain groups (Glew et al, 1995;Involve, 2005), while residents of certain regions may simply not have a history of active involvement (Mullen and Allison, 1999). When cultural differences exist among participants, even among individuals from the same area, communication barriers may arise (Servaes and Arnst, 1999).…”

“…Other situational incentives are related to perception. Stakeholders are far more likely to be motivated to participate if they recognise the existence of a problem and are sufficiently concerned about it to want to effect change (Burke, 1968;Mullen and Allison, 1999).…”

Organizational Dynamics of Watershed Partnerships: A Key to Integrated Water Resources Management

“…Solutions to watershed problems or the deployment of watershed protection measures are more likely to be measured in decades than years, and it is unlikely that measurable improvements in environmental quality-an explicit goal of many efforts-will be evident in the short term (Born and Genskow 1999, Coughlin et al 1999, National Research Council 1999, Huntington and Sommarstrom 2000. Recognizing this, researchers have explored precursory steps to demonstrated environmental quality improvements related to organizational processes (Imperial 1999, Margerum and Born 2000, Margerum 2002), social capital (Mullin and Allison 1999, Leach et al 2002, Leach and Sabatier 2005, and requisite management practices (Bellamy et al 1999). Further, participants' perceptions of success vary, and incorporating multiple goals into watershed initiatives can translate to varied expectations and levels of satisfaction with outcomes (Leach 2000, Moore andKoontz 2003).…”