ames borden colt, ph.d. ri bays, rivers, & watersheds coordination team [email protected]...
TRANSCRIPT
Ames Borden Colt, Ph.D.RI Bays, Rivers, & Watersheds
Coordination [email protected]
Ecosystem-Based Management for
Aquatic Environments& Water-Reliant Economies:
Our Sisyphean Destiny
Rhode Island
Legislation
Executive Management
Regulation & Permitting
Governance
LawsBudgetsLeadership
PoliciesPlans/BudgetsLeadership
Polity
Legislation
Executive Management
Regulation &Permitting
Legislation
Executive Management
Regulation/Permitting
Legislation
Executive Management
Regulation/Permitting
Legislation
Executive Management
Regulation/Permitting
DEM
CRMC
NBC
Legislation
Executive Management
Regulation/Permitting
Legislation
Executive Management
Regulation/Permitting
Legislation
Executive Management
Regulation/Permitting
DEM
CRMC
NBC
EPA
NOAA
WHO MANAGES FRESHWATER?
Water Resources Board
Manages the state’s freshwater resources to ensure adequate supplies for people, economy and environment.
Depart. of Environ. Management
Manages and regulates the state’s water
resources under state and federal laws.
Public Utilities Commission
Regulates rates charged by water suppliers
who sell to areas outside their service district
and by privately owned water companies.
Depart. of Health
Regulates drinking water under the federal
Safe Drinking Water Act.
WHO MANAGES FRESHWATER?
Water Resources Board
Manages the state’s freshwater resources to ensure adequate supplies for people, economy and environment.
Depart. of Environ. Management
Manages and regulates the state’s water
resources under state and federal laws.
Public Utilities Commission
Regulates rates charged by water suppliers
who sell to areas outside their service district
and by privately owned water companies.
Depart. of Health
Regulates drinking water under the federal
Safe Drinking Water Act.
Statewide Planning Program
Creates master plans to guide future development
of the state.
Water Suppliers
In RI, 480 supply systems range from the well
in a rural restaurant to the 28 large systems
that provide public water.
Federal Agencies
U. S. Geological Survey assesses
and map water and geological
resources. Other federal agencies provide
standards, education & research.
Municipalities
Develop comprehensive land use plans
and issue zoning and subdivision ordinances.
Networked Governance
Third‑party government: service delivery by private firms & non‑profits. Joined‑up government: multiple government agenciesprovide integrated service. Digital communications.
Consumer-driven services.
(S. Goldsmith & W.D. Eggers, 2004)
Governance
Management
Regulatory
Science
Monitoring
Values
Freshwaters
Resource governance for surface & groundwaters that better reflects hydrologic linkages.
State and federal facilitation of multi-scale watershed management. Coordination. Advancement.
Robust indicators keyed to sustainable water resource principles and program goals.
Progressive expansion and networking of chemical, biological, and physical monitoring systems.
Fourth National Conf. On Science, Policy & the Environment (2004)
Water-ReliantEconomies
Waters, Shorelines& Watersheds
Water-ReliantEconomies
Waters, Shorelines& Watersheds
Energy
Climate ChangeSea-Level Rise
Complex Adaptive Systems
“Fluidly changing collections of distributed interacting components that react to both their environments and to one another.
“Electric power grid, telecommunications networks, the Internet, biological systems, ecological systems, social groups.
“The multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary problems found within these systems are of such great complexity that traditional modeling methodologies are often considered inadequate.”
- Argonne National Laboratoryhttp://www.dis.anl.gov/exp/cas/index.html
Goals
Programs, Policies
decisions
restoredecisions
controldecisions
investdecisions
protectiondecisions
Watershed
watershedhabitat
Coasts
f reshwater
Fish
MarineWaters
developedwatershed
marinehabitats
navigable
shipping
boating
recreating
accessiblecoast &waters
developedcoasts
energy &transport
renewable energyproduction
commercialfi shing
fi shable waters(clean)
monitoring
information
coastal risks(+ sea level)
fl ooding risk
prosperity
tourists
information aboutrecreation experience
skilledworkers labor pool,
losingworkers
gainingworkers
economicopportunities
decision quality timeliness multi-criteria(integrated)
cost-eff ective
area
bio-diversity
swimmable waters(clean)
navigation andsecurity technologies
recreationalfi shing
coastal storm risk
Donald RobadueSystems Dynamics Sketch of BRW SLP Vision Statement
Social
Cultural
Economic
Ecology
Science &Technology
Built Environment
Larry Quick The Resilience Network
www.resilientfutures.org
ConnectivityConditionsCapabilitiesCapitalConversationsCatalysts
Odum and Odum. 2001. A Prosperous Way Down: Principles and Policies
Desbonnet & Costa-Pierce. 2007.Science for Ecosystem-Based Management: Narragansett Bay in the 21st Century
Ecosystem-Based Management
The management of human activities to ensure that marine ecosystems, their structure (e.g., biological diversity), function (e.g., productivity) and overall environmental quality (e.g., water and habitat quality) are not compromised and are maintained at appropriate temporal and spatial scales.
- Canada Depart. of Fisheries & Oceans (2005)
Integrated consideration of the entire ecosystem, including human dimensions.
Maintain healthy, productive and resilient conditions to protect ecosystem services humans want and need.
“Differs from current approaches that usually focus on a single species, sector, activity or concern.”
Communications Partnership for Science and the Sea (2004)
EBM:
Organizes and networks single resource and sector management and regulatory programs.
Addresses cumulative impacts.
Recognizes temporal and spatial dynamism and complexity of ecosystems.
Demands long-term and comprehensive environmental data sets.
EBM:
Possibilities for abrupt, unanticipated changes.
Ecosystems are not infinitely resilient.
Ecosystem services nearly always undervalued.
Risks addressed
“Place-based” economic and recreationaldevelopment and historical restoration: The Blackstone River Valley
CRMC Special Area Management Plans
DEM Water Quality Restoration Plans (TMDL’s)
EBM in RI:
The Rhode Island Bays, Rivers, & Watersheds Coordination Team
Define & implement interagency policies for ecosystem‑based management &
sustainable development of Rhode Island’s fresh & marine waters & watersheds.
Department of Environmental ManagementW. Michael Sullivan, Ph.D. (Director)
Coastal Resources Management CouncilMichael Tikoian (CRMC Chair)
Division of PlanningKevin Flynn (Assoc. Director)
Economic Development CorporationSaul Kaplan (Exec. Director)
BRWCT
Department of Environmental ManagementW. Michael Sullivan, Ph.D. (Director)
Coastal Resources Management CouncilMichael Tikoian (CRMC Chair)
Division of PlanningKevin Flynn (Assoc. Director)
Economic Development CorporationSaul Kaplan (Exec. Director)
BRWCT
Water Resources BoardJuan Mariscal, P.E. (General Manager)
Narragansett Bay CommissionRaymond Marshall, P.E. ( Exec. Director)
Rivers CouncilGuy Lefbevre & Jane Sherman (Council Co- Chairs)
DEM
CRMCDiv. Of Planning
EDCWater Resources Board
RI Rivers Council
Public Advisory Comm.
Science Advisory Comm.
Env. Monitoring
Collab.
Economic Monitoring
Collab.
Governor Municipalities
Narr. Bay Commission
General Assembly
Rhode Island Bays Rivers & Watersheds Systems-Level Plan: 2009-2013
Sectioned by issue.
Define issues and key attributes.
Develop insight into conflicts between interests.
Goals and strategies distilled from previous collaborations and agency-based strategic planning.
Waterfront and Coastal Development: Balanced, well‑designed shorelines and waterfronts that accommodate marine‑related industry, transportation, recreation, housing, and conservation.
Watersheds: Healthy, resilient ecological function and structure in watersheds at multiple spatial scales.
Water‑Reliant Economies: Thriving businesses that rely upon aquatic resources and/or waterfronts (long-term profitability).
Natural Hazards:Human life, property, infrastructure, and natural resources resilient to and protected against the hazards of storms and floods. Freshwater Supply: Ample, reliable, and safe fresh water supplies utilized sustainably. Water Quality: Fresh and marine waterbodies that support “natural” aquatic habitats and “expected” biological diversity.
Fisheries and Aquaculture: Sustainable and profitable freshwater and marine fisheries and aquaculture.
Aquatic Habitats and Invasive Species: Healthy and diverse ecosystems that multiply human values for freshwater, coastal, and marine fisheries and wildlife.
Efficient Water Use
Integrate management of land use and water use
Coordinate community comprehensive plans and water supply management plans to included guidance for watershed-based planning for municipalities.
WRB Municipalities DOP,DEM,DOH
1-4 years
Promote water use efficiency and conservation.
Develop and Implement statewide water use efficiency and conservation plan and public outreach program, including major user water audits.
WRB, Water Suppliers
1-4 years
Timeframes: For many listed actions additional funding will be required for successful completion.
Ongoing: Action is currently being pursued by one or more agency. Additional funding may be required for completion. 1-2 Years: With adequate funding, action should be completed within 1-2 years.
1-4 Years: With adequate funding, significant progress on the action will require ongoing efforts over the next 4 years. 1-6 Years: With adequate funding, significant progress on the action will require ongoing efforts over the next 6 years.
BRW Systems-Level Plan: 2009-2013
Objective Strategy Action Lead Time
How could interagency strategic planning help to allocate static or declining agency capacities?
What incentives or mandates should the General Assembly and the Governor consider to ensure that the BRWCT agencies act?
BRW SLP Implementation
BRWCT Responsibilities
Strategic planning cycle: plan, implement, evaluate.
Environmental data and knowledge dissemination.
Policy analysis.
Oversight mechanism for the RI General Assembly.
BRWCT Responsibilities
Training and support for local and regional governments.
Project facilitation.
Funding.
Budgeting by outcomes.
Groundwater
RI DEM groundwater protection policies stipulate that(Planning-mandated) Local Comprehensive Plans must: A) Describe the community’s groundwater resources.
B) Characterize the uses/benefits of groundwater:
C) Establish and implement policies to prevent degradation of groundwater quality.
Map community’s groundwater resources
US Geological Survey
Characterize uses & benefits & assess threats
Incorporate into local comp. plan existing Depart. of Health and EPA source water assessments of public water supplies, and recommended protection strategies.
As these assessments become obsolete, communities will need to update based uponmore detailed DoH requirements.
Implement protection measures forWHPA’s and groundwater sensitive and dependent areas.
Planning and zoning requirements Land conservation Land development standards Onsite wastewater management programs Regulation of use and storage of hazardous materials
Problems will always torment us because all important problems are insoluble: that is why they are important. The good comes from the continuing struggle to try and solve them, not from the vain hope of their solution. – Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.
Sisyphus
The struggle itself...is enough to fill a man's heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.
Albert Camus Titian, 1549
