Thesis--Wisconsin. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 256-269).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin, Madison, 1988. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 198-207).

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The increasing interest in adaptive models of governance and adaptive tools for management stems from a recognition that the traditional paradigm in natural resource management is failing to adequately maintain the resilience of social-ecological systems. A principal reason for this failure is that each problem is treated discretely by approaches that are characteristically narrow and reactive rather than comprehensive and forward-looking. This lack of sophistication means that traditional governance models are unsuitable for dealing with the inherent uncertainty characteristic of environmental problems, and for dealing with the conflicts that emanate from the social construction of those problems. The challenge presented by these uncertainties and conflicts illuminates deficiencies in how we conceptualize the dynamics of social-ecological systems and how we formulate approaches to policy and problem solving to cope effectively with those dynamics. What changes in governance could remedy these deficiencies with more effective forms of collective action that sustain and enhance social-ecological resilience? My purpose was to pursue those changes with an examination of the human dimension of governance, with specific reference to the Great Lakes and potential features of an adaptive paradigm for the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. The goals of this research were to contribute knowledge and perspective on our understanding of and progress towards adaptive Great Lakes governance, and secondly, to generate pragmatic and actionable policy options for enhancing participatory processes, social learning, and leadership for adaptive Great Lakes governance. To achieve these goals, I sought the following specific objectives: (1) identify aspects of the Agreement that would compel a more rigorous and evaluative approach to policy development and implementation in the Great Lakes; (2) acquire evidence to characterize deficits in the implementation of Great Lakes policy; (3) acquire evidence to characterize pathologies in the management of the Great Lakes; (4) (i) identify, detail, and combine the principles and processes of adaptive management and decision analysis, (ii) relate these mechanisms to policy and research in the Great Lakes context, especially where such mechanisms for managing in the face of uncertainty could ameliorate implementation deficits and management pathologies; and (5) (i) acquire evidence of the strengths and limitations in the development and implementation of Great Lakes Remedial Action Plans from people with direct experience with RAPs, (ii) identify and characterize potential reforms that could improve the design of community-based, nearshore restoration programs, and (iii) measure the desirability, feasibility, and likelihood for success of those reforms. Language in the Purpose of the Agreement, that the federal governments are to develop programs and practices for a better understanding of the Great Lakes, I interpret as inviting even demanding-the ongoing and rigorous pursuit of new knowledge and improved processes in Great Lakes governance to further place-based and regional restoration. Policy implementation deficits identified included a lack of understanding of cause and effect, inadequate communication and coordination, lack of time and resources for full implementation, and lack of agreement on objectives. Pathologies of management included a lack of responsiveness, a lack of institutional analysis and program evaluation, a resistance to new information and ideas, a lack of appropriate personalities in key roles, and multiple and incompatible programming. Policy tools for improved human-environment and science-policy linkages were examined as potential governance mechanisms to counter deficits and pathologies. Design principals of adaptive management and decision analysis were specified. These tools were placed within the policy and research context of the Great Lakes regime and linked to improved forms of accountability. A three-round online Policy Delphi study involved several dozen experts in the development and implementation of RAPs across the Great Lakes basin within government, industry, academia, and civil society. The research collected and aggregated (1) direct knowledge of the strengths and limitations of RAPs, which lead to (2) further knowledge of what worked and what did not work in the RAP program, which in turn facilitated (3) the emergence of seven governance options to improve institutional processes in RAP programming. Importantly, the results establish that both the structure and attributes of governance were significant to RAP outcomes. Ran kings of these options indicated a general consensus that the options were relatively feasible and likely to succeed as enhancements in the development and implementation of RAPs. The results indicate a need to focus significantly on the predominant tendencies and characteristic attitudes that underlie RAP processes. These findings will have broad significance for other evolving place-based nearshore restoration strategies in the Great Lakes and anywhere else such programs are initiated. The thesis culminates with a conceptual framework for adaptive governance, problem solving, decision making, and management. The framework encompasses three domains that correspond to established levels of institutional analysis: constitutional choice (political and societal processes), collective choice (policy and decision processes), and operational choice (resource use and management processes). Flows of information between domains can be facilitated or restricted depending on the rules and conventions of the institutional design. Traditional governance characteristically permits only a linear and downward flow of information that negates the possibility for double-loop learning by disallowing required feedbacks. Adaptive governance regimes intentionally encourage a return or upward (and outward) flow of information and promotes learning. The three domains in the framework are nested to indicate that the 'problem domain' is the entire social system, that problems of environmental governance cannot be restricted to subsets of issues, and that adaptive problem solving is multi-scalar. The framework explicitly links processes across domains and is adaptive because it bridges boundaries that traditionally separate society from policy decisions and isolate policy decisions from management activity. The Discussion underscores that learning is a key function of adaptive governance, and that it is operationalized through social capital, networks, leadership, and trust. The thesis recommends that the federal governments issue a reference to the International Joint Commission to establish an Adaptive Governance Task Force in order to provide a strong and independent forum to engage with the conceptual framework presented in this thesis and generally to discover adequate and appropriate strategies and opportunities for adaptive Great Lakes governance. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

<p> This study analyzed fossil and modern freshwater bivalve mollusc shells, from in and around lakes Ontario and Erie, for the following trace metals: Cu, Ni, Zn, As, Pb, and Mn. Elliptio dilatata, Elliptio complanata, and Lampsilis radiata siliquoidea shells were analyzed by ICPMS for differences in shell metal levels between species and genera, through time and due to anthropogenic inputs. </p> <p> Regardless of age, all three species showed high concentrations of Zn and Mn, and little or no changes in Cu, Ni, Zn, and Pb concentrations with time. E. comp1anata shells were generally poorer in Pb, but richer in As and Mn, than were the E. dilatata and L. radiata siliquoidea shells. Fossil Elliptio samples did not posses low background, or baseline, trace metal concentrations. These samples were richer in As, Pb, and Mn than were modern samples from post-industrial environments. Among the modern shells, the E. complanata showed no differences in metal concentrations between samples from high- and low-contamination· sites, while the L. radiata siliquoidea showed changes in Ni, As, and Mn concentrations among the same sites. Modern L. radiata siliquoidea may be more likely to represent environmental metal changes than are modern E. complanata. Historical change in environmental metal concentrations of the Great Lakes region is not recorded as a simple change in shell metal concentrations of these freshwater bivalve molluscs. </p> / Thesis / Bachelor of Science (BSc)

The Great Lakes Fish Eaters Project (Eaters Project) was funded by Health Canada to identify individuals consuming large amounts of Great Lakes fish (≥ 26 meals over the past 1 year period) and to document relevant contaminant information to describe the potential health risks and benefits associated with the consumption of fish from the Great Lakes. Data were analyzed on 91 participants in the Eaters Project. The Great Lakes are home to a wide variety of fish. In this study alone, the participants have collectively eaten over 35 different species of Great Lakes fish. The participants of this study were asked for their opinions on the environment and their health. In addition, blood work was completed on 89 participants. The laboratory results were collected on different contaminants. Seven contaminants were considered for modeling purposes since the laboratory value was above a pre-defined detection limit in greater than 75% of the participants in this study. These seven contaminants included six Organochlorine Pesticides: p,p'-DDE (100% of the participants above the detection limit), hexachlorobenzene (HCB) (100%), β- hexachlorocyclohexane (β-HCH) (92.1%), mirex (78.7%), oxychlordane (92.1%), transnonachlor (98.9%) and one Polychlorinated Biphenyl Congener, Aroclor 1260 (100%). Organic mercury was also modeled since it contributed on average 77.2% to a maximum of 97.5% of the total mercury value. A 2-stage modeling approach on linear and categorical variables was done as a hypothesis building exercise. Each contaminant was age-adjusted at the start of this modeling exercise. The age-adjusted contaminant was then used as the response variable in the second stage of the modeling of each specific contaminant. The gender (male and female) and country of birth (Canada/Europe/US and Asian) variables were confounded with each other. The model was be stratified on country of birth or on gender if one of the variables were found to be the only significant variable left in the full model. Not all the contaminants that were modeled had significant results. That is, there were levels of certain contaminants that the modeling approach could not explain. The country of birth (Canada/Europe/US and Asian) variable was important in the modeling of some of the contaminants. This suggested stratifying by the two country-of-birth groups. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)

The objective of this research was to examine whether the United States and Canada have successfully implemented their Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement and to identify the factors determining the continuation of any injury to human health from pollution of the boundary waters. The Agreement was first negotiated in 1972 as part of the legitimation of the social unrest of the 1960s and gave special responsibilities to the International Joint Commission to advise the Parties of problems of water quality. It has been subject to periodic review and occasional renegotiation and amendment. Specifically, the Agreement was renegotiated in 1978 to address the health effects from the imperceptible exposures to persistent toxic substances. Though extensive scientific evidence of continuing injury to health from persistent toxic substances has been available, there has been a consistent pattern of deliberate failure by the authorities to report the injury and to implement many of the remedial provisions contained in the Agreement. The thesis claims that the failure of the International Joint Commission to advise the Parties of the new information about the injury to health and the failure of the Parties to act upon the information when it was obtained from other sources constituted dereliction of duty. While synthesis of the science linking the pollutant-induced injury to specific causal agents was necessary to provide an empirical measure of the failure to implement the Agreement, consideration of the social, economic and political aspects was needed to provide a sufficient explanation for the failure of the International Joint Commission to inform and of the authorities to act. There have been active attempts to use diversionary reframing of the Agreement, based on a multi-causal ecosystem theory proposed by fisheries ecologists, to attenuate the risk message and transform the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement into a more inclusive and less focused agreement on restoring ecosystem integrity. This has been welcomed by industry and governments as a means to remove the focus from addressing the unresolved dangers of persistent toxic substances through costly remedial actions. The International Joint Commission undermined its credibility when it recommended ‘sunsetting’ the use of chlorine in chemical manufacturing. The Parties failed to use a precautionary approach to prevent the commercial introduction of new persistent toxic substances, such as the brominated flame retardants. Since the 1980s, the economic politics of the two nations have been profoundly influenced by neo-liberalism and one of the consequences has been the removal of environmental health as a priority from the respective political agenda. Advisory bodies seem to have been captured not only by the prevailing neo-liberalism but also by corporate interests and these factors seem to underlie the reluctance to report the injury to health from exposures to persistent toxic substances. Though there were many different health endpoints affected by exposures to water pollutants in the Great Lakes, the thesis concentrated on the evidence of neuro-teratogenic effects. The adequacy of the implementation of the Agreement during the past thirty-three years was tested by using Health Canada data on cerebral palsy hospitalisation to evaluate whether there were indications of previously undetected outbreaks of congenital Minamata disease in human populations in Canadian Great Lakes communities potentially exposed to methyl mercury from natural sources or from historic industrial uses of mercury. The uncertainties in the apparent association that was found were reduced by the application of Hill’s guidelines. While these findings indicated both the need for further multi-disciplinary research to locate and diagnose the victims and for a precautionary approach to the consumption of Great Lakes fish, they also indicated that, for more than three decades, health authorities have not diligently implemented the Agreement. The inclusion of the social, economic and political considerations in the forensic audit has revealed the dangers inherent in any renegotiation of the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.

This thesis is concerned with the conceptual foundations of environmental law and policy in the Great Lakes basin, the world's largest freshwater ecosystem. The Great Lakes regime is now widely recognized as one of the most advanced international environmental management regimes in existence. Over the past two decades, toxic contamination has emerged as a highly pressing ecological issue in the Great Lakes basin. In Canada and the United States, the ecosystem approach, a comprehensive and integrated approach to environmental management, has been adopted both bilaterally and domestically in the Great Lakes' complex environmental policy framework to guide the protection of ecological integrity. There has been extensive discussion of the ecosystem approach, particularly from scientific and managerial perspectives; however, the economic content of the concept has been largely neglected, despite the importance of considering all relevant perspectives in the development of law and policy. This thesis is divided into five chapters. After discussing in Chapter 1 the ecological and institutional contexts and methodological issues of the analysis, this thesis defends, in Chapter 2, the view that economic theory has relevance to issues of environmental law and policy. In addition to highlighting the main contours of welfare and environmental economic theory, a main conclusion, and an essential premise upon which the analysis proceeds, is that economics remains a useful analytical approach to environmental issues, despite some important criticisms. Subsequently, in Chapter 3, the analysis shifts to an examination of four bilateral and domestic Great Lakes instruments that form the core of Great Lakes toxic pollution policy: (i) the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement; (ii) the Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy; (iii) the Canada-Ontario Agreement; and (iv) the Final Water Quality Guidance for the Great Lakes System. After outlining key principles underpinning each instrument, the thesis underscores common themes running through the collective policy framework. The ecosystem approach constitutes a unifying concept in this framework. The ecosystem approach is examined from an economic perspective in Chapter 4. After identifying key elements of the ecosystem approach, this chapter highlights important parallels between fundamental welfare and environmental economic notions. One main conclusion is that economic concepts and approaches, such as environmental valuation, externalities, and self-interest, form an integral part of the ecosystem approach. Finally, Chapter 5 identifies some directions for further research. Given that, as the thesis seeks to establish, economic theory constitutes an important, albeit not sole, perspective on the ecosystem approach, a key challenge will be to facilitate interdisciplinary analysis and cooperation leading to effective operationalization of the concept.