Examining the Use of Adaptive Management Workshops to Foster Collaboration

Project ID: 9132
Principal Investigator: Douglas Clark
Research Topic: Water Marketing
Funded Fiscal Years: 2008, 2009 and 2010
Keywords: None

Project Abstract

The user manual resulting from the research effort "Examining the Use of Adaptive Management Workshops to Foster Collaboration" was written for managers, scientists, and mediators interested in preventing or managing water conflict. Adaptive management processes are widely used in resource management disputes within Reclamation and this research was designed to maximize their utility.

Four adaptive management workshop settings are proposed. The pre-workshop process should (1) engage in the identification of problems, views, values and perceptions that are at the root of the particular water resource conflict, in essence, bounding the conflict geographically, politically, and scientifically; (2) explore the range of potential desired future conditions for the system under conflict; and (3) assess what is known of cause and effect relationships between diverse actions and resources that might be affected by proposed actions. The second set workshops are used to introduce the parties to one another and begin articulation and discussion of the issues relevant to the conflict management resolution process. The third set examines the water basin's bio-physical and socio-economic systems and sub-systems. And the fourth set of workshops are designed to explore the varying perceptions and priorities of the participants and produce a road-map for collaboration.

Contributing Partners

Contact the Principal Investigator for information about partners.

Research Products

Bureau of Reclamation Review

The following documents were reviewed by experts in fields relating to this project's study and findings. The results were determined to be achieved using valid means.

Development of an Adaptive Management Workshop Manual to Assist in the Prevention and Management of Water Resource Conflicts (final, PDF, 418KB)
By Dennis Kubly and Douglas Clark
Report completed on September 15, 2009

Adaptive management is widely used in Reclamation to arrive at scientifically sound management decisions. Recent adaptive managment literature has indicated that adaptive managment processes can also be set up explicitly as negotiations among stakeholders. This research proposes to investigate how this can be done.

An Adaptive Management Workshop Manual to Assist in the Prevention, Management, and Resolution of Water Resource Conflicts, Version I (final, PDF, 934KB)
By Dennis Kubly and Douglas Clark
Report completed on November 30, 2011

The adaptive management process can use a set of multiparty, multidisciplinary workshops, often including modeling, to help resolve water conflicts. Unfortunately, Reclamation managers often do not presently have the training necessary to successfully take advantage of this opportunity. We have developed a training module/manual instructing Reclamation managers how this can be done. This is version 1 of the manual. Version 2 will be produced after workshop testing of this manual is completed.

An Adaptive Management Workshop Manual to Assist in the Prevention, Management, and Resolution of Water Resource Conflicts (final, PDF, 1.1MB)
By Dennis Kubly and Douglas Clark
Report completed on October 09, 2012

The adaptive management process can use a set of multiparty, multidisciplinary workshops, often including modeling, to help resolve water conflicts. Unfortunately, Reclamation managers often do not presently have the training necessary to successfully take advantage of this opportunity. We have developed a training module/manual instructing Reclamation managers how this can be done. This is the final draft of the manual and benefits from feedback obtained from two Reclamation workshops.

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Last Updated: 6/22/20