Legislation Supporting IWRM in Nebraska

摘要

Since 2004, Nebraska has made considerable progress with integrated management planning; this article highlights key legislative elements in a framework to support the success of this aspect of integrated water resources management (IWRM). State and local water management agencies jointly develop Nebraska's integrated management plans and basin-wide plans, which seek to achieve a balance between water uses and supplies while managing hydrologically connected surface water and groundwater as an interconnected resource. These plans are developed and implemented collaboratively by the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources (Department), which regulates and manages surface water statewide, and 23 local Natural Resources Districts (Districts), which regulate and manage groundwater. The Districts, which are organized along river basin boundaries and governed by locally elected boards, were created by the Nebraska Legislature in 1972. This decentralized institutional framework ensures a focus on local challenges and opportunities, but also raises the question: How can a group of principals who consume a commonly owned resource, like water, "organize and govern themselves to obtain continuing joint benefits when all face temptations to freeride, shirk, or otherwise act opportunistically" and not overuse the resource? This was the basic research question addressed by Elinor Ostrom in her book Governing the Commons. While Ostrom's principles are not discussed specifically in this article, many of the legislative tools that have made IWRM in Nebraska successful follow her design principles.