¿QUE ES CSIR?
4. Dimensión acción ciudadana y administrativa.
As oftentimes, land use planning and decision-making occur at the local levels, this dissertation would be remiss if it did not delve into local level institutions of water quality and nonpoint source governance. Although previous literature in water resources lacks comparative evaluations of counties and municipalities, considerable research exists in local land use and natural resource planning arenas. Further, a small number of studies have evaluated the potential for local governments to execute environmental and water quality initiatives.100
As environmental and water resource planners emphasize an ecological systems approach to managing programs and projects, implementation takes place to some measure at the local level
96 Ibid.
97 Hardy and Koontz, Reducing Nonpoint Source Pollution through Collaboration: Policies and Programs across the U.S. States, vol. 41, Environmental Management (Springer Science and Business Media, LLC., 2008).
98 Scheberle, Federalism and Environmental Policy: Trust and the Politics of Implementation (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 1997).
99 Hardy and Koontz, Reducing Nonpoint Source Pollution through Collaboration, 41. 100
Brody, Highfield, and Carrasco, "Measuring the Collective Planning Capabilities."; Brown, "Local Institutional Development and Organizational Change for Advancing Sustainable Urban Water Futures," Environmental Management 41, no. 2 (2008); De Loë, Di Giantomasso, and Kreutzwiser, "Local Capacity for Groundwater Protection in Ontario," Environmental Management 29, no. 2 (2002); Lubell et al., "Local Institutions and the Politics of Urban Growth," American Journal of Political Science 53, no. 3 (2009); Murchison, "Twenty Lessons for the Future."; May et al., Environmental Management and Governance: Intergovernmental Approaches to Hazards and Sustainability (London, UK: Routledge, 1996); White and Boswell, "Planning for Water Quality: Implementation of the NPDES Phase II Program in California and Kansas," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 49, no. 1 (2006).
and requires land use decisions within county or municipal jurisdictions.101 The research highlights various local land use factors such as urban development, stormwater runoff, and habitat fragmentation.102 Determinations that may be potentially threatening or conserving natural resources of larger regional significance are often within the jurisdictional responsibilities of county commissioners, city councils, local boards, planning staff, and local stakeholders.103 Moreover, Duerksen et al. (1997) claimed that local policies and activities could provide protection of critical areas more effectively and efficiently than federal or state programs. Most of the local studies investigate the effectiveness of programs.104 Planning literature has identified local contextual factors that contribute to ecological capacity including fiscal
independence, intellectual capital, socioeconomic characteristics, and political structure.105 Brody et al. (2004) recognized the contribution of local plans and policies in a collective capacity for watershed-based areas of planning. This article analyzed comprehensive plans in Florida and determined the aspects that influence the capabilities of local planning to manage large
ecological systems such as human disturbance, income, education, and technical capacity and knowledge base to address environmental issues. Moreover, Brown 2008 investigated local level implementation of sustainable urban water activities for fourteen case studies over a five-year period in Sydney, Australia. The author determined that the political institutionalization of
environmental issues and the dedication to local leadership and administrative training supported sustainable management efforts.
Although there is very little research involving local analyses of nonpoint source pollution control, a few researchers have evaluated stormwater programs. White and Boswell (2006) investigated
101 Kirklin, "Protecting Species and Ecosystems within Planning Processes," Environ. Plan. 12, no. 4 (1995); Endter-Wada et al., "A Framework for Understanding Social Science Contributions to Ecosystem Management," Ecol. Appl. 8, no. 3 (1998); McGinnis, Woolley, and Gamman, "Bioregional Conflict Resolution: Rebuilding Community in Watershed Planning and Organizing," Environ. Management 24, no. 1 (1999); Beatley, "Preserving Biodiversity: Challenges for Planners," APA Journal 66, no. 1 (2000); Michaels, "Making Collaborative Watershed Management Work: The Confluence of State and Regional Initiatives," Environ. Management 27, no. 1 (2001).
102 Noss and Scott, "Ecosystem Protection and Restoration: The Core of Ecosystem Management," in Ecosystem Management: Applications for Sustainable Forest and Wildlife Resources, ed. Boyce and Hanley (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997).
103 Brody, Highfield, and Carrasco, "Measuring the Collective Planning Capabilities."
104 Ibid.; Murchison, "Twenty Lessons for the Future."; Brown, "Local Institutional Development and Organizational Change for Advancing Sustainable Urban Water Futures."; De Loë, Di Giantomasso, and Kreutzwiser, "Local Capacity for Groundwater Protection in Ontario."; Lubell et al., "Local Institutions and the Politics of Urban Growth."; May et al., Environmental Management and Governance; White and Boswell, "Planning for Water Quality: Implementation of the NPDES Phase II Program in California and Kansas."
105
Goggin et al., Implementation Theory and Practice: Toward a Third Generation (Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman/Little, Brown Higher Education, 1990); Burby and May, Making Governments Plan: State Experiments in Managing Land Use (Baltimore, Maryland: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997); Deyle and Bretschneider, "Spillovers of State Policy Innovations: New York’s Hazardous Waste Regulatory Initiatives," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management 14, no. 1 (1995); Agranoff and McGuire, Collaborative Public Management: New Strategies for Local Governments (Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2003); Conroy and Berke, "What Makes a Good Sustainable Development Plan? An Analysis of Factors That Influence Principles of Sustainable Development," Environment and Planning 36 (2004); Lubell et al., "Local Institutions and the Politics of Urban Growth."
correlations between socioeconomic conditions and local government performance to manage stormwater runoff, as measured by local compliance with NPDES Phase II Stormwater
requirements and the quality of local policy response. The study determined that median home value and educational attainment indicated better stormwater management locally. In another study, White and Boswell (2007) examined whether the quality of stormwater management differed among localities in Kansas that acted early to NPDES program requirements or delayed any activities until required to implement measures. The authors found limited differences, but the quality of activities from local governments that acted early was higher. In addition, research has shown that local entities are faced with limited funds and personnel to execute effective and innovative stormwater management initiatives.106 Murchison (2005) furthers the case that lack of financial assistance has contributed to the slower response of local governments to address stormwater pollution and suggests cost-sharing options. To understand further the motivation for government initiative and effective water quality programs, it is important to comprehend the underlying drivers of environmental capacities and commitments of local entities to address these issues.
Even more fitting to the subject of this dissertation, Cox and Herson (1987) conducted a study in Virginia involving an assessment of the implementation of local land use control to manage nonpoint source pollution. The authors recommended strengthening local land use controls, increasing state oversight to ensure sufficient levels of nonpoint source pollution management across localities in the state, and coordinated institution modifications with federal stormwater and nonpoint source pollution management programs.
Others researchers have studied program design impacts, as well as, planning policies and instruments on local government responses.107 Duerksen et al. (1997) describe tools in environmental and land use planning used to protect and manage natural and ecological resources including regulations, incentive-based programs, land conservation, and others. Still the applications of land use policies by political institutions likely depend on the local economic balance between environmental goods and growth management.108 More specifically, Feitelson and Lindsey (2001) observed that the local use of economic instruments in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed were strongly affected by local culture and politics. Moreover, this study determined
106 Murchison, "Twenty Lessons for the Future."; White and Boswell, "Stormwater Quality and Local Government Innovation," Journal of the American Planning Association 73, no. 2 (2007).
107 Program design impacts (May et al., Environmental Management and Governance.); planning policies and instruments (Hood, The Tools of Government (London and Basingstoke: Macmillan Press, 1983); Duerksen et al., Habitat Protection Planning: Where the Wild Things Are (American Planning Association, 1997); Moseley and James, "Central State Steering of Local Collaboration: Assessing the Impact of Tools of Meta-Governance in Homelessness Services in England," Public Organization Review 8, no. 2 (2008)).
that the mix of mechanisms applied to address the impacts of urbanization in the region was dependent on: the growth rate of the local county, the “sophistication” of residents, the organization of the development industry, and background of local politicians.109
While the literature points to the notion that local administration is important for protecting ecological systems, natural habitats, and water quality and managing nonpoint source pollution, limited research exists for comparison at the local level of programs and instruments for such activities. Furthermore, the implications of local government impacts whether through regulations or incentive-based programs have not been evaluated. This dissertation contributes to the body of literature not only at the local level, but also at the state, federal, and watershed scales.