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1. A social network analysis of collaborative governance for the food-energy-water nexus in Phoenix, AZ, USA

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-021-00676-3  

   Jones, J. Leah; White, Dave D. (March 2021, Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences)

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   Despite the known benefits of integrated policy and planning, traditional governance decisions in the food-energy-water (FEW) nexus are often made without cross-sector collaboration, potentially leading to unintended consequences and decreased resource security. Applying collaborative governance approaches to the FEW nexus provides an opportunity to shift towards integrated policy of food, energy, and water governance; doing so first requires an understanding of the limitations of current governance structures and the opportunities for change. We conduct a social network analysis of stakeholders in Phoenix, AZ using secondary data sources to construct the social network of collaboration and to analyze the ability of the governance landscape to facilitate or hinder collaborative governance. The social network measures indicate potential challenges to collaborative governance of FEW nexus stakeholders, such as limited trust between actors. However, leveraging bridging actors provides opportunities to increase collaborative governance between sectors. This research is important for implementing collaborative FEW nexus governance in practice. 

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2. Beyond engagement: Enhancing equity in collaborative water governance

   https://doi.org/10.1002/wat2.1687  

   Koebele, Elizabeth A.; Méndez‐Barrientos, Linda E.; Nadeau, Nikki; Gerlak, Andrea K. (August 2023, WIREs Water)

   Abstract Collaborative governance has emerged as a promising approach for addressing complex water sustainability issues, with purported benefits from enhanced democracy to improved environmental outcomes. Collaborative processes are often assumed to be inherently more equitable than traditional governance approaches due to their goal of engaging diverse actors in the development of policy and management solutions. However, when collaborative water governance processes ignore issues of politics and power in their design, they risk creating or even exacerbating existing inequities. How, then, can collaborative water governance processes be designed to enhance, rather than undermine, equity? To answer this question, we first conduct an extensive review of the collaborative governance literature to identify common design features of collaborative processes, which each present potential benefits and challenges for actualizing equitable collaborative water governance. After critically discussing these design features, we explore how they are executed through two case studies of collaborative water governance in western North America: groundwater governance reform in California and transnational Colorado River Delta governance. In reflecting on these cases, we chart an agenda for future collaborative water governance research and practice that moves beyond engaging diverse actors to promoting equity among them. This article is categorized under:Human Water > Water GovernanceScience of Water > Water and Environmental ChangeEngineering Water > Planning Water 

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3. Social Networks and Policy Entrepreneurship: How Relationships Shape Municipal Decision Making about High-Volume Hydraulic Fracturing

   Arnold, Gwen; Nguyen Long, Le Anh; Gottlieb, Madeline (January 2016, Policy studies journal)

   Well-resourced and well-connected individuals, or “policy entrepreneurs,” often play an important role in advocating and securing the adoption of policies. There is a striking lack of inquiry into the ways that social networks shape the ability of these actors to achieve their aims, including the ways in which network ties may channel policy conflict. To address these gaps, we analyze data from an original survey and an original database of policies to assess the success of policy entrepreneurs active in a highly contentious arena: municipal policymaking concerning high-volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF) in New York. We use text-mining to collect social network data from local newspaper archives, then use those data to construct municipal HVHF policy networks. Municipal anti-HVHF policy entrepreneurs appear more successful when they operate in less cohesive networks, act as bridges to relative newcomers to the governance network, and have a larger number of network connections. Pro-HVHF policy entrepreneurs appear more successful when they can forge high-value connections to key decision-makers. Policy entrepreneurs on both sides of the issue are more successful when they have a greater number of sympathetic coalition partners. 

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4. Advancing a Net Zero Urban Water Future in the US Southwest: Governance and Policy Challenges and Future Needs

   Crosson, Courtney; Bhushan, Rashi (May 2024, Online www.netzerowater.org)

   This policy brief synthesizes the findings from a three-day workshop held at University of Arizona in April 2023, focused on identifying the governance and policy challenges to a NZUW future in the Southwest US. The workshop involved water managers, non-governmental organizations, and academics from across the Southwest, and was part of a four-year National Science Foundation Research Coordination Network (RCN) grant under the Dynamic and Integrated Socio-Environmental Systems (DISES) Program. The ultimate purpose of this DISES-RCN is to define and examine the viability and value of pursuing a NZUW approach in arid and semi-arid urban scenarios of Albuquerque, Denver, Los Angeles, and Tucson, all serviced by the Colorado River. A NZUW approach meets the needs of a given community with a locally available and sustainable water supply, without detriment to interconnected systems or long-term water supply (1). It is an integrative approach that uses progressive targets and a quantitative assessment framework to adapt to challenges created by multiple drivers of change in the urban water system. The findings detailed in this policy brief have been published in a recent ACS ES&T Water article titled “Advancing a Net Zero Urban Water Future in the United States Southwest: Governance and Policy Challenges and Future Needs” (2). This RCN is spearheaded by the University of Arizona, Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University, University of New Mexico, and University of California Los Angeles, in collaboration with Tucson Water, Denver Water, Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority, and Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The NZUW research network aims to improve the sustainability, resilience, and adaptation of urban water systems impacted by the Colorado river crisis and the recent reductions in their water allocations imposed by the Bureau of Reclamation (3). 

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5. Governing change: a dynamical systems approach to understanding the stability of environmental governance

   https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-13-1677-2022  

   Molla, Nusrat; DeIonno, John; Gross, Thilo; Herman, Jonathan (January 2022, Earth System Dynamics)

   Abstract. The ability to adapt to social and environmental change is an increasinglycritical feature of environmental governance. However, an understandingof how specific features of governance systems influence how theyrespond to change is still limited. Here we focus on how system featureslike diversity, heterogeneity, and connectedness impact stability,which indicates a system's capacity to recover fromperturbations. Through a framework that combines agent-basedmodeling with “generalized”dynamical systems modeling, we model the stability of thousandsof governance structures consisting of groups of resource users and non-government organizations interacting strategically with the decision centers that mediate their access to a shared resource. Stabilizing factors include greater effortdedicated to venue shopping and a greater fraction of non-governmentorganizations in the system. Destabilizing factors include greaterheterogeneity among actors, a greater diversity of decision centers,and greater interdependence between actors. The results suggest thatwhile complexity tends to be destabilizing, there are mitigating factorsthat may help balance adaptivity and stability in complex governance. This study demonstrates the potential inapplying the insights of complex systems theory to managing complexand highly uncertain human–natural systems in the face of rapid socialand environmental change. 

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