Assessing the Variances of Citizen Stakeholder Justice in Watershed Governance: Is Action More Effective with Reactive or Proactive Administrations

Abstract

Watershed governance has historically been administered by natural resource experts and is often inaccessible to citizen stakeholders. Although many advocate for deliberative democracy as a pathway toward natural resource sustainability, others remain skeptical due to perceived tradeoffs. Environmental deliberative democracy (EDD) serves as a conceptual synthesis of collaborative principles. This research compares the social, economic, and political discourses in two Wisconsin watersheds (Geneva Lake in regulatory compliance and Green Lake, which is deemed state impaired) and posits that EDD community compatibility is enhanced by public trust in expert capacity and accessible watershed education resources. A mixed methodology is used to analyze quantitative data from citizen surveys and qualitative interview responses. Findings affirm that proactive watershed management frameworks are stronger when not prompted by environmental crises. Management programs created reactively with a specific agenda have a comparable structure with citizen involvement but have a limited capacity, scope, and potential for sustained success.