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Thinking Like a Watershed -
Ecological governance concepts, trends and
applicationsA presentation by Oliver M. Brandes, Associate Director
POLIS Project on Ecological GovernanceUniversity of Victoria
The challenge ahead
In a healthy society, economy always follows ecology, and
education precedes them both
Ken Carey Starseed
The Third Millennium, Living in the Posthistoric World Harper, San Francisco,1991
Presentation overview
• Ecological governance• Key water governance
trends• Thinking like a watershed
and some thoughts on the path forward
Ecological governanceWhat it is NOT!
• One size fits all – instead it must evolve in place
• Neat and tidy models – instead it is messy and complex
• Applicable to individual sectors or industries– instead it is about whole system change eg must address markets, education, law and policy,
governments, planning and management, and whole cities and communities)
Ecological governance
• Embeds environment in all levels of decision making
• Environment not an ‘add on’ but central
• Asks how we might foster circular systems – reducing demand on distant and local ecosystems
With the fundamental question:What does governance shaped by
the principles of ecological sustainability look like?
Ecological governance - Foundations
• Economy is a subset of the ecosystem• Biophysical limits (including water) exist• Emphasize circular systems
– no such thing as waste - simply an input for other processes
• Take uncertainty and complexity seriously by managing adaptively
• Cultivate feedback loops through decentralized power and institutions
• Develop social resilience and ensure ecological resilience
• Reconnect humans (and communities) to the natural world
Key water governance trends
Climate change represents a CLEAR AND PRESENT LONG TERM
DANGER (and opportunity)
– More than just the issue of the day, week, month?
• Carbon reduction is all about Mitigation
• Water (and watersheds) is where we will feel the impacts
Water is all about Adaptation
– changing climate will directly impact watershed and ecological function and therefore influences
community prosperity
Key water governance trends
Government to Governance
• Governance is more than just government -- includes other critical actors such as associations, universities, civil society and business – drivers of innovation and change
• Governance, alone, cannot correct poor management– yet poor governance often leads to
ineffective management and unsustainable—social, economic and ecological—outcomes
Key water governance trends
Watersheds, catchments and basins
• Water and watersheds are the integrators of the landscape and the source of key ecological goods and services – drinking water, flood control, biodiversity and food and
resource production
• Watersheds have long been recognized as the appropriate scale for management (Dublin Principles) and are increasingly recognized as the key “scale” for governance
… YET … no current governance model integrates management of the terrestrial resources with water-based management or atmospheric carbon
as a coherent ecological system.
Foundation of Research
At a Watershed:
Ecological Governance and Sustainable Water Management in Canada (May 2005)
Primary conclusions
Watershed Sustainability is a social—NOT a technical—challenge
• Maintaining ecosystem health and function as the priority • Water conservation and changing behaviour must be the
foundation to water management • Innovation, adaptive management and whole system
thinking is critical• Local solutions must be allowed to develop in place --
requiring senior government to move from top down managers to facilitators of local action
• Watersheds must be managed and governed as whole units with attention to linkages across sectors
REQUIRES…attention to governance
Where do we go from here?
Some suggestions on the path forward to developing water
sustainability in Canada
Guiding principles for reform
• A Conservation Ethic– create H2O IQ and dispel the “myth of abundance”– leave more water in the system to enhance ecological
resilience
• A Citizen-Centered Vision– maintain community prosperity by linking the economy and
ecology through water– entrench water as a ‘public trust’ legally and institutionally
• Thinking Like a Watershed– complexity and uncertainty requires adaptive integrated
thinking– Healthy functioning watersheds must be the foundation of
our resource decision-making
Basic Roles and Responsibilities
Federal Government• Engage (and enforce) on Constitutional
responsibilities -- fisheries, navigation,First Nations, infrastructure, national issues,international engagement, trade and export
• Good Science and data -- climate change, hydro-ecology, adaptation, water use
• Support institutions and processes that “think like a watershed” through resources and best practices and information exchange
Provinces• Manage adaptively -- Ecosystem based allocations and
integrated land-water use in the face of a changing climate
• Source Protection and Conservation -- as priority water “infrastructure”
• Address cumulative impacts -- by enabling “good governance” at the watershed scale and whole system thinking