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.

Key water governance trends

New conception of infrastructure

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