Ames Borden Colt, Ph.D.RI Bays, Rivers, & Watersheds

Coordination Teamames.colt@dem.ri.gov

Ecosystem-Based Management for

Aquatic Environments& Water-Reliant Economies:

Our Sisyphean Destiny

Rhode Island

Legislation

Executive Management

Regulation & Permitting

Governance

LawsBudgetsLeadership

PoliciesPlans/BudgetsLeadership

Polity

Legislation

Executive Management

Regulation &Permitting

Legislation

Executive Management

Regulation/Permitting

Legislation

Executive Management

Regulation/Permitting

Legislation

Executive Management

Regulation/Permitting

DEM

CRMC

NBC

Legislation

Executive Management

Regulation/Permitting

Legislation

Executive Management

Regulation/Permitting

Legislation

Executive Management

Regulation/Permitting

DEM

CRMC

NBC

EPA

NOAA

WHO MANAGES FRESHWATER?

Water Resources Board

Manages the state’s freshwater resources to ensure adequate supplies for people, economy and environment.

Depart. of Environ. Management

Manages and regulates the state’s water

resources under state and federal laws.

Public Utilities Commission

Regulates rates charged by water suppliers

who sell to areas outside their service district

and by privately owned water companies.

Depart. of Health

Regulates drinking water under the federal

Safe Drinking Water Act.

WHO MANAGES FRESHWATER?

Water Resources Board

Manages the state’s freshwater resources to ensure adequate supplies for people, economy and environment.

Depart. of Environ. Management

Manages and regulates the state’s water

resources under state and federal laws.

Public Utilities Commission

Regulates rates charged by water suppliers

who sell to areas outside their service district

and by privately owned water companies.

Depart. of Health

Regulates drinking water under the federal

Safe Drinking Water Act.

Statewide Planning Program

Creates master plans to guide future development

of the state.

Water Suppliers

In RI, 480 supply systems range from the well

in a rural restaurant to the 28 large systems

that provide public water.

Federal Agencies

U. S. Geological Survey assesses

and map water and geological

resources. Other federal agencies provide

standards, education & research.

Municipalities

Develop comprehensive land use plans

and issue zoning and subdivision ordinances.

Networked Governance

Third‑party government: service delivery by private firms & non‑profits. Joined‑up government: multiple government agenciesprovide integrated service. Digital communications.

Consumer-driven services.

(S. Goldsmith & W.D. Eggers, 2004)

Governance

Management

Regulatory

Science

Monitoring

Values

Freshwaters

Resource governance for surface & groundwaters that better reflects hydrologic linkages.

State and federal facilitation of multi-scale watershed management. Coordination. Advancement.

Robust indicators keyed to sustainable water resource principles and program goals.

Progressive expansion and networking of chemical, biological, and physical monitoring systems.

Fourth National Conf. On Science, Policy & the Environment (2004)

Water-ReliantEconomies

Waters, Shorelines& Watersheds

Water-ReliantEconomies

Waters, Shorelines& Watersheds

Energy

Climate ChangeSea-Level Rise

Complex Adaptive Systems

“Fluidly changing collections of distributed interacting components that react to both their environments and to one another.

“Electric power grid, telecommunications networks, the Internet, biological systems, ecological systems, social groups.

“The multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary problems found within these systems are of such great complexity that traditional modeling methodologies are often considered inadequate.”

- Argonne National Laboratoryhttp://www.dis.anl.gov/exp/cas/index.html

Goals

Programs, Policies

decisions

restoredecisions

controldecisions

investdecisions

protectiondecisions

Watershed

watershedhabitat

Coasts

f reshwater

Fish

MarineWaters

developedwatershed

marinehabitats

navigable

shipping

boating

recreating

accessiblecoast &waters

developedcoasts

energy &transport

renewable energyproduction

commercialfi shing

fi shable waters(clean)

monitoring

information

coastal risks(+ sea level)

fl ooding risk

prosperity

tourists

information aboutrecreation experience

skilledworkers labor pool,

losingworkers

gainingworkers

economicopportunities

decision quality timeliness multi-criteria(integrated)

cost-eff ective

area

bio-diversity

swimmable waters(clean)

navigation andsecurity technologies

recreationalfi shing

coastal storm risk

Donald RobadueSystems Dynamics Sketch of BRW SLP Vision Statement

Social

Cultural

Economic

Ecology

Science &Technology

Built Environment

Larry Quick The Resilience Network

www.resilientfutures.org

ConnectivityConditionsCapabilitiesCapitalConversationsCatalysts

Odum and Odum. 2001. A Prosperous Way Down: Principles and Policies

Desbonnet & Costa-Pierce. 2007.Science for Ecosystem-Based Management: Narragansett Bay in the 21st Century

Ecosystem-Based Management

The management of human activities to ensure that marine ecosystems, their structure (e.g., biological diversity), function (e.g., productivity) and overall environmental quality (e.g., water and habitat quality) are not compromised and are maintained at appropriate temporal and spatial scales.

- Canada Depart. of Fisheries & Oceans (2005)

Integrated consideration of the entire ecosystem, including human dimensions.

Maintain healthy, productive and resilient conditions to protect ecosystem services humans want and need.

“Differs from current approaches that usually focus on a single species, sector, activity or concern.”

Communications Partnership for Science and the Sea (2004)

EBM:

Organizes and networks single resource and sector management and regulatory programs.

Addresses cumulative impacts.

Recognizes temporal and spatial dynamism and complexity of ecosystems.

Demands long-term and comprehensive environmental data sets.

EBM:

Possibilities for abrupt, unanticipated changes.

Ecosystems are not infinitely resilient.

Ecosystem services nearly always undervalued.

Risks addressed

“Place-based” economic and recreationaldevelopment and historical restoration: The Blackstone River Valley

CRMC Special Area Management Plans

DEM Water Quality Restoration Plans (TMDL’s)

EBM in RI:

The Rhode Island Bays, Rivers, & Watersheds Coordination Team

Define & implement interagency policies for ecosystem‑based management &

sustainable development of Rhode Island’s fresh & marine waters & watersheds.

Department of Environmental ManagementW. Michael Sullivan, Ph.D. (Director)

Coastal Resources Management CouncilMichael Tikoian (CRMC Chair)

Division of PlanningKevin Flynn (Assoc. Director)

Economic Development CorporationSaul Kaplan (Exec. Director)

BRWCT

Department of Environmental ManagementW. Michael Sullivan, Ph.D. (Director)

Coastal Resources Management CouncilMichael Tikoian (CRMC Chair)

Division of PlanningKevin Flynn (Assoc. Director)

Economic Development CorporationSaul Kaplan (Exec. Director)

BRWCT

Water Resources BoardJuan Mariscal, P.E. (General Manager)

Narragansett Bay CommissionRaymond Marshall, P.E. ( Exec. Director)

Rivers CouncilGuy Lefbevre & Jane Sherman (Council Co- Chairs)

DEM

CRMCDiv. Of Planning

EDCWater Resources Board

RI Rivers Council

Public Advisory Comm.

Science Advisory Comm.

Env. Monitoring

Collab.

Economic Monitoring

Collab.

Governor Municipalities

Narr. Bay Commission

General Assembly

Rhode Island Bays Rivers & Watersheds Systems-Level Plan: 2009-2013

Sectioned by issue.

Define issues and key attributes.

Develop insight into conflicts between interests.

Goals and strategies distilled from previous collaborations and agency-based strategic planning.

Waterfront and Coastal Development: Balanced, well‑designed shorelines and waterfronts that accommodate marine‑related industry, transportation, recreation, housing, and conservation.

Watersheds: Healthy, resilient ecological function and structure in watersheds at multiple spatial scales.

Water‑Reliant Economies: Thriving businesses that rely upon aquatic resources and/or waterfronts (long-term profitability).

Natural Hazards:Human life, property, infrastructure, and natural resources resilient to and protected against the hazards of storms and floods. Freshwater Supply: Ample, reliable, and safe fresh water supplies utilized sustainably. Water Quality: Fresh and marine waterbodies that support “natural” aquatic habitats and “expected” biological diversity.

 Fisheries and Aquaculture: Sustainable and profitable freshwater and marine fisheries and aquaculture.

Aquatic Habitats and Invasive Species: Healthy and diverse ecosystems that multiply human values for freshwater, coastal, and marine fisheries and wildlife.

Efficient Water Use

Integrate management of land use and water use

Coordinate community comprehensive plans and water supply management plans to included guidance for watershed-based planning for municipalities.

WRB Municipalities DOP,DEM,DOH

1-4 years

Promote water use efficiency and conservation.

Develop and Implement statewide water use efficiency and conservation plan and public outreach program, including major user water audits.

WRB, Water Suppliers

1-4 years

Timeframes: For many listed actions additional funding will be required for successful completion.

Ongoing: Action is currently being pursued by one or more agency. Additional funding may be required for completion. 1-2 Years: With adequate funding, action should be completed within 1-2 years.

1-4 Years: With adequate funding, significant progress on the action will require ongoing efforts over the next 4 years. 1-6 Years: With adequate funding, significant progress on the action will require ongoing efforts over the next 6 years.

BRW Systems-Level Plan: 2009-2013

Objective Strategy Action Lead Time

How could interagency strategic planning help to allocate static or declining agency capacities?

What incentives or mandates should the General Assembly and the Governor consider to ensure that the BRWCT agencies act?

BRW SLP Implementation

BRWCT Responsibilities 

Strategic planning cycle: plan, implement, evaluate.

Environmental data and knowledge dissemination.

Policy analysis.

Oversight mechanism for the RI General Assembly.

 

BRWCT Responsibilities 

Training and support for local and regional governments.

Project facilitation.

Funding.

Budgeting by outcomes. 

Groundwater

RI DEM groundwater protection policies stipulate that(Planning-mandated) Local Comprehensive Plans must: A) Describe the community’s groundwater resources.

B) Characterize the uses/benefits of groundwater:

C) Establish and implement policies to prevent degradation of groundwater quality.

Map community’s groundwater resources

US Geological Survey

Characterize uses & benefits & assess threats

Incorporate into local comp. plan existing Depart. of Health and EPA source water assessments of public water supplies, and recommended protection strategies.

As these assessments become obsolete, communities will need to update based uponmore detailed DoH requirements.

Implement protection measures forWHPA’s and groundwater sensitive and dependent areas.

Planning and zoning requirements Land conservation Land development standards Onsite wastewater management programs Regulation of use and storage of hazardous materials

Problems will always torment us because all important problems are insoluble: that is why they are important. The good comes from the continuing struggle to try and solve them, not from the vain hope of their solution. – Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.

Sisyphus

The struggle itself...is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.

Albert Camus Titian, 1549

www.coordinationteam.ri.gov

ames.colt@dem.ri.gov