PUBLICATIONS

• Publications by topic
  • Groundwater
  • Surface Water
  • Water Quality
  • Water Use

• Publications by date
  • Recent publications

Annual Water Data Report

USGS Publications Warehouse

USGS IN YOUR STATE

USGS Water Science Centers are located in each state.

The Role of Information in Developing Rational Watershed Management Plans

Geological Society of America
By Gerard MacMahon

Abstract

In many watershed planning situations, it is difficult for those with an interest in managing the watershed -- decision makers, planners, landowners, the public -- to make sense of complex and uncertain "facts" and to use this information to shape a management plan widely held to be rational. Several traditions within planning theory, including decision analysis and environmental dispute resolution, provide a framework for analyzing survey responses from participants in watershed planning efforts in North Carolina and Maryland. The goal of this study is a better understanding of how to develop rational watershed plans.

The analysis suggests that at the agenda-setting stage of a watershed planning effort, participants' concerns and interests should be translated into an objectives hierarchy listing specific objectives of the watershed planning effort and measurable attributes of those objectives. At the knowledge-development stage, the capabilities, limits, and assumptions of each potential watershed planning model for meeting the information needs defined by the objectives hierarchy must be discussed to the satisfaction of all participants. Ample opportunities need to be available for public discussion about values and assumptions associated with non-technical knowledge claims, such as what constitutes "enough" environmental protection. At the stage of developing management options, participants must have satisfactory opportunities for initiating suggestions about possible watershed management options, challenging suggested management ideas, and ensuring that management ideas are fully discussed.

McMahon, Gerard, 1995, The role of information in developing rational watershed management plans [abs.]: Geological Society of America, 1995 Fall Meeting Abstracts.