Irrigated agriculture accounts for 90 percent of consumptive use of freshwater in the
western US and is considered the largest contributor to nonpoint source water
pollution. The diffuse nature of most water quality and quantity challenges
necessitates institutions that can more effectively engage agricultural producers in
strategic, integrated, watershed-scale approaches to water management such as those
associated with Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM). With
approximately 9,400 professionals working in nearly every one of the nation's 3,071
counties and an emphasis on voluntary, incentives-based approaches to conservation,
the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is well poised to influence land
and water management on private working lands. NRCS conservation programs,
however, have been criticized as "random acts of conservation" that lack a strategic
vision for addressing natural resource challenges at-scale. Using NRCS's new
Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP) as a case study, this paper seeks to
examine the factors that enable or inhibit NRCS from promoting an integrated
approach to water management consistent with IWRM principles.
Following the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework this paper
traces the development of AWEP and examines how the rules established at the
national level impact implementation at the national, state and local levels. The paper
then evaluates AWEP based on a set of six IWRM design principles to determine (a)
the extent to which AWEP represents an IWRM approach, and (b) the institutional
factors that facilitate or inhibit NRCS from taking a more integrated approach to water
management. I found that institutional factors vary greatly between levels of analysis
depending on the specific context, but did identify several consistent enablers and
barriers. The three most significant factors that facilitate an IWRM approach are: (1)
AWEP's focus on priority resource concerns within a defined hydrographic area; (2)
AWEP's emphasis on pursuing a partnership-based approach; and (3) increased local
involvement in defining projects. The three most significant factors that inhibit an
IWRM approach are: (1) a lack of clarity concerning partner roles and responsibilities
and constraints on partner involvement; (2) limited flexibility of existing program
rules; and (3) limited local capacity to engage with landowners and implement
projects. The paper offers institutional recommendations for facilitating an IWRM
approach within NRCS, and concludes with a consideration of the utility of IWRM
design principles and the IAD framework for analyzing water management
institutions. / Graduation date: 2012
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/30033 |
| Date | 01 June 2012 |
| Creators | Burright, Harmony S. J. |
| Contributors | Gosnell, Hannah |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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