Developing Knowledge-Action Systems for Integrated Water Management in New Zealand

The development of agricultural productivity and the management of water along sustainable ecological, economic and social trajectories require an integrated approach. Integrated water management is knowledge intensive across multiple scales. As New Zealand moves to set limits on water quantity and quality and respond to changing environmental values, both of which have implications for agricultural productivity, it has become apparent that the links between knowledge, policy and on-ground action are often missing. As a potential means of reconnecting these missing connections, this paper outlines the theory and practice of knowledge-action systems and their potential role in the coproduction of knowledge and policy across organisational, knowledge and institutional boundaries.Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use,

Recent water sector reform in New Zealand

Addressing NPSP (non-point source pollution) is the Achilles heel of water sustainability in New Zealand and internationally. This oral presentation discusses this environmental problem and questions how do we design appropriate institutional arrangements for water governance to avoid, remedy or mitigate NPSP in liberal democracies. Collaborative water governance is addressed and New Zealand initiatives are looked at. Canterbury and Hurunui examples are given and the authors' research is then discussed

Problematic practice in integrated impact assessment: the role of consultants and predictive computer models in burying uncertainty

It is well known in impact assessment that predictive model outputs will be as credible as their inputs and that model assumptions will drive outputs. What is less well known is how the practice of integrated impact assessment with its pervasive use of predictive computer models and multiple teams of consultants can influence evidence relied upon in deliberations over the impacts and benefits of major projects. This paper draws on an integrated impact assessment of a major energy infrastructure project in Australia known as Basslink to examine the epistemic implications of current practice. It will be argued that what has become standard procedure can serve to diminish the disclosure of prediction uncertainty

Developing knowledge-action systems for integrated water management in New Zealand

The development of agricultural productivity and the management of water along sustainable ecological, economic and social trajectories require an integrated approach. Integrated water management is knowledge intensive across multiple scales. As New Zealand moves to set limits on water quantity and quality and respond to changing environmental values, both of which have implications for agricultural productivity, it has become apparent that the links between knowledge, policy and on-ground action are often missing. As a potential means of reconnecting these missing connections, this paper outlines the theory and practice of knowledge-action systems and their potential role in the coproduction of knowledge and policy across organisational, knowledge and institutional boundaries

Opening new institutional spaces for grappling with uncertainty: a constructivist perspective

In the context of an increasing reliance on predictive computer simulation models to calculate potential project impacts, it has become common practice in impact assessment (IA) to call on proponents to disclose uncertainties in assumptions and conclusions assembled in support of a development project. Understandably, it is assumed that such disclosures lead to greater scrutiny and better policy decisions. This paper questions this assumption. Drawing on constructivist theories of knowledge and an analysis of the role of narratives in managing uncertainty, I argue that the disclosure of uncertainty can obscure as much as it reveals about the impacts of a development project. It is proposed that the opening up of institutional spaces that can facilitate the negotiation and deliberation of foundational assumptions and parameters that feed into predictive models could engender greater legitimacy and credibility for IA outcome

Regulating agricultural land use to manage water quality: the challenges for science and policy in enforcing limits on non-point source pollution in New Zealand

Non-point source pollution from agricultural land use is a complex issue for the management of freshwater worldwide. This paper presents a case study from New Zealand to examine how predictive modelling and land use rules are being used to regulate diffuse pollution to manage water quality. Drawing on a science studies conceptual framework, the research evaluates the deployment of a numeric regime to enforce compliance with resource limits. It shows that in contrast to claims that a quantitative modelled 'outputs-based' approach would provide certainty and clarity and remove ambiguity in the implementation of resource limits at the farm scale, the opposite is unfolding. It is argued from the case study that in the development of land use policy greater recognition and understanding is needed of the social and political dimensions of numbers and predictive models. This research highlights epistemological, institutional and practical challenges for the workability and enforceability of policy regimes seeking to regulate diffuse pollution that tightly link numbers derived from predictive models to compliance and enforcement mechanisms

Converting community knowledge into catchment nutrient limits: A constructivist analysis of a New Zealand collaborative approach to water management

The question posed in this article is how shifts in governance ushered in by the sustainability paradigm are reshaping knowledge governance. Drawing on constructivist theories of knowledge, I examine the tension between the sustainability mandate to open up knowledge making to local knowledge, and conventional science policy practice that would see it excluded. I present a water management case study from New Zealand's South Island region of Canterbury, where communities are involved in establishing catchment nutrient limits to manage land use and water quality. It is concluded that although local knowledge was embraced within the knowledge-making process, the pursuit of epistemic authority led to its recalibration, aggregation, and standardization. As such, it was stripped of its complexity. This research highlights the role of politics in anchoring the linear knowledge governance model in place and the challenge for supplanting it

The challenges of regulating diffuse agricultural pollution to improve water quality: a science policy perspective on approaches to setting enforceable catchment load limits in New Zealand

Worldwide, the cumulative effects of diffuse pollution arising from a range of human activities are diminishing the quality and ecosystem capacity of lakes, rivers, estuaries, and oceans. Devising effective ways to regulate the causes and effects of diffuse pollution is a fraught legal, political, policy, and management challenge given the difficulties in identifying and measuring who is responsible for what, where, and when. In 2011, under its Resource Management Act, 1991, the South Pacific nation of New Zealand introduced national policy to arrest diffuse pollution with a requirement for local government to institute enforceable water quality and quantity limits on all freshwater bodies. The blueprint for these national freshwater policy reforms comes from its South Island region of Canterbury. Canterbury’s regional council has adopted a catchment load approach whereby an overarching limit on nutrient losses from agricultural land is calculated and linked to land use rules to control property-scale agricultural activities. With a focus on the Canterbury region, this case study examines two approaches to establishing a catchment load for diffuse nutrient pollution to link to legal provisions in its regional plan. One is based on a river’s nutrient concentrations and the other relies on predictive modelling. The case study opens important questions about measuring and regulating diffuse pollution and the difficulties faced by policy-makers and regulators in linking numbers to legally binding compliance and enforcement mechanisms, e.g. how to account for lag effects when establishing‘ in-stream’ limits and how to address changes in software when relying on ‘modelled’ limits

Knowing sea turtles: local communities informing conservation in Koh Rong Archipelago, Cambodia

Three globally threatened species of sea turtle have been recorded in the waters around the Koh Rong Archipelago off Cambodia’s southwest coast: the green turtle Chelonia mydas, the hawksbill Eretmochelys imbricata and the leatherback Dermochelys coriacea. To learn how human communities around the Koh Rong Archipelago interact with these turtle species, we investigated their perceptions and use of sea turtles. Our study used qualitative social science research methods and identified four frames of reference for the sea turtle: turtles as victims, turtles as occasional food, turtles as spiritual beings, and turtles as a promise for the future. These frames of reference were expressed in all villages and among most demographic groups. Our study also identified several perceived threats to sea turtle survival around the Koh Rong Archipelago. The most frequently cited threats were trawling boats, nets, Vietnamese fishermen, hooks, illegal fishing and overfishing. Understanding how local people interpret and interact with sea turtles and perceive threats to their survival provides important insights for nature conservation and education programmes, which our study aims to inform

'Lag-effect' politics and the politicisation of New Zealand farmers: Where to from here?

Responding to diffuse agricultural pollution is plagued by the considerable period of time it can take before ecological thresholds are breached and the impacts of actions on land become evident in water. Reflecting on the recent election campaign and the findings of research conducted in 2013 to understand farmers’ perspectives on media claims that agriculture is diminishing New Zealand’s ‘100% Pure’ brand, this paper examines the social and political dimensions of this lag-effect and argues that the politicisation of New Zealand farmers has gone too far. The paper examines the implications of lag-effect politics for farmers and the new government that has inherited an already fraught implementation phase of the National Policy Statement for Freshwater Management