An analysis of stakeholder perspectives on Texas Regional Water Planning and Management

Abstract

With the passage of Senate Bill #1 in 1997, Texans began a new era of regional water planning. The state's water policy is in the midst of a transformation. Water policy and decision makers are in the process of developing elegant, consensus-based solutions to water resource problems that were once thought to be unavoidable, unmanageable, and unsolvable. This study, using Preference-Feasibility Analysis (PFA) and descriptive statistics, identifies and discusses stakeholder preferences for water management strategies and planning considerations. The purpose is to identify points of consensus and points of divergence in order to develop a water plan for Texas that is fair and equitable. When a conflict is interest-based, as it is in the case of water resources, it is important to identify areas of give and take and to understand the positions of shareholders, especially when it comes to the implementation of management strategies that will inevitably affect some individuals negatively. The goal of this study was not to find the "perfect" strategy. Rather, the goal was to identify what is most important to regional and interest group shareholders. Such knowledge is imperative to the successful negotiation of management alternatives among water resource planners, managers and other interested shareholders. Once areas of agreement and contention have been recognized, planners and managers can use this information as a guide as they continue down the oath towards the sustainable development of water resources in Texas.