Developing collaborative tools for improved water management decision-making

Inclusive decision-making and planning processes are a key requirement when local governments, communities and iwi face issues relating to drinking-water and wastewater services.

Research carried out in this area demonstrates some dissatisfaction with participatory processes and outcomes, indicating the need to develop tools that help resolve ongoing disagreements which can result in costly project delays and Environment Court hearings.

This project has focused on developing and trialing holistic and participative tools to help decision makers:

• identify which stakeholders should be involved in decision-making and planning processes;
• structure participation in a way to enable a range of viewpoints to be included;
• assist participants to understand the critical relationships between environmental, cultural, social and economic concerns; and
• support participation in action planning.

The project used action research to trial the tools in three communities:

Akaroa: this involved helping the Banks Peninsula District Council to evaluate its water conservation campaign and work through the potential social and political implications of implementing universal water-metering. A number of workshop-based tools were trialed and helped to assist the District Council reach robust decisions about the management of water scarcity.

Hokianga: following the Ministry of Health safe drinking-water project pilot, the research team worked with Hokianga Health Enterprise Trust and the Whirinaki Maori Committee to undertake a collaborative evaluation of the pilot, and understand the role that community control and ownership played in the success of the Whirinaki Community Water Supply. This case study trialed tools to support participants in documenting and understanding how meaningfully involving Maori communities leads to broader benefits and opportunities beyond the provision of safe drinking-water.

Wainui: this piece of action research assisted the Banks Peninsula District Council to develop a sewage infrastructure investment strategy that took into account the concerns of many competing stakeholder interests in a small seaside settlement. The tools trialed enabled the District Council to gain clarity over the key issues that need to be addressed as part of the wastewater strategy development, and the ‘ripple’ effects of possible decisions on stakeholder interests, helping them to move towards a confident decision.

Publications

• Winstanley, A., Foote, J., and Hepi, M., (2005). Involving the community in water resource management: learning from action research in two New Zealand case studies. Proceedings of the European Water Resource Associations, Menton, France, 7 - 10 September.
• Foote, J., Jellie, M., Gregor, J., and Porter, J., (2004). Opening the lid: a case study in strategic choice for small community wastewater system. New Zealand Water and Wastes Association Conference, 6-8 October, Christchurch.
• Jellie, M., Foote, J., Stuart, K., Rogers, M., Taimona, H., and North, N, (2004). Widening the ‘thin edge of the wedge’: benefits of indigenous community control and involvement in environmental health initiatives. 5th National Indigenous Environmental Health Conference, Sydney 2 - 5 November, Australia.
• Baker V, Foote J, Gregor J, Houston D, Midgley G (2004). Boundary Critique as a Means for Improving the Effectiveness of Water Conservation Campaigns and Community Involvement in Small Watershed Management. In, Proceedings of ISCO 2004 - 13th International Soil Conservation Organisation Conference, Brisbane, Australia, 4-8 July, 2004.
• Gregor, J., Foote, J., Jellie, M., and Winstanley, A., (2004). Council attitudes to involving community and tangata whenua in difficult drinking and wastewater infrastructure decisions. New Zealand Water and Wastes Association Conference, 6-8 October, Christchurch.
• Baker, V.E., Foote, J.L., Gregor, J.E., Houston, D.J., and Midgley, G.R., (2004). Boundary critique and community involvement in small watershed management. In: Dew, K., and Fitzgerald, R., (eds), Challenging Science: Science and Society Issues in New Zealand. Dunmore Press Ltd: Palmerston North.
• Foote, J.L., Gregor, J.E., Jellie, M.C., and Porter, J., (2002). Methods for taking into account community concerns in council decision making. New Zealand Water and Waste Annual Conference, Christchurch, New Zealand, September 25 - 27.
• Jellie, M., Foote, J., Stuart, K., North, N., Rogers, M., and Taimona, H., (2004). The ‘thin edge of the wedge’: the evolution of health promotion in the Hokianga. Public Health Association Conference, 30 June - 2 July.
• Baker, V.E., Foote, J.L., Gregor, J.E., Houston, D.J. and Midgley, G. (2004). Systems thinking for inter-disciplinary dialogue. In, Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Knowledge Management for Strategic Creation of Technology, March 8-10, Ishikawa, Japan, pp.94-116.
• Jellie, M., Foote, J., North, N., Rogers, M., Taimona, H., and Marino, M., (2003). Small water systems: a case study of improving drinking water quality in the Hokianga. New Zealand Water and Wastes Association Journal, Issue 132, pp. 32 - 36.
• Jellie, M., Foote, J., Gregor, J., and Stuart, K., (2003). Learning from the stories of Nga Puna Wai o Hokianga (Guest Editorial). PHA News, Vol. VI, No. 4, August, pp. 1 - 2.
• Jellie, M., Rogers, M., Foote, J., North, N., Taimona, H., and Marino, M., (2003). Kaupapa Maori, drinking water quality and community development: a case study of community self-determination. Public Health Association Conference, Ngaruawahia, New Zealand, 2-4 July
• Gregor, J.E., Foote, J.L., Jellie, M.C., and Porter, J., (2002). Improving the effectiveness of water conservation strategies: the importance of factors influencing total watershed management. Water Environment Federation’s 75th Annual Conference and Exposition, Chicago, Illinois, United States, September 28 - October 2.
• Hill, R., Foote, J., Jellie, M., Gregor, J., and Baker, V., (2002). Activity theory, systems thinking and action research: interventions in urban water management and decision-making in New Zealand communities. 5th International Society for Cultural Research and Activity Theory congress, June 18 - 22, 2002, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.