Environmental conflict resolution by water utilities: Applications and lessons learned

摘要

Threats to environmental resources no longer typically arise from any single act or actor. Diffuse, nonpoint source environmental problems cannot be solved by water utilities alone. Regulators, property owners, business owners, environmentally motivated civic groups, and politicians are stakeholders whose day-to-day lives affect, and are affected by, the quality of their water resources. Although water utilities strive to protect the water resources they depend on, they cannot do it alone. The use, protection, and management of water resources require that the resource be well-managed beyond political jurisdictional boundaries or water/wastewater utility service areas. There is a growing understanding that optimal resource protection and management require collaboration among government agencies and across political jurisdictions.