Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

4-24-1995

Publication Title

Water in the 21st Century: Conservation, Demand, and Supply

Publisher

American Water Resources Association

First page number:

61

Last page number:

68

Abstract

In New York City's water supply watersheds, controversy over water quality protection underscores both the need to expand the scope of water resource management and the challenges to doing so. This paper describes the response of watershed residents to !'Jew York City's efforts to avoid filtration mandated by the 1986 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments and 1989 Surface Water Treatment Rule. The emergence of a spectrum of stakeholder groups representing land owners, sport fishermen, businesses, environmental groups and local communities has brought social and economic issues not previously part of the City's water management program to the center of the debate. This case illustrates that, despite a long history of calls for social science involvement in water resource research and management, attention paid to the sociological components of water resource management remains inadequate to inform its changing objectives and context. The ability of stakeholder groups to hinder water quality protection efforts suggests that a more thorough analysis of stakeholder issues can help improve the incorporation of the human components of watershed systems into water resource management.

Keywords

New York (State)— Catskill Mountains; New York (State) – New York; Water – Pollution; Water – Recreational use; Water resource management; Water quality; Water supply; Watershed management; United States. Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1986

Disciplines

Environmental Policy | Other Environmental Sciences | Policy Design, Analysis, and Evaluation | Policy History, Theory, and Methods | Water Resource Management

Language

English

Comments

Conference held in Salt Lake City, UT on April 24, 1995

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