Developing collaborative advantage for water quality protection in agricultural watersheds: A policy network approach

This dissertation aims to expand the theoretical base and improve the practice of collaborative, integrated water management (CIWM), one of the major bottom-up alternatives for more holistic and participatory styles of environmental governance in North America. The main institutional challenge for CIWM has been the creation of meaningful patterns of socio-political interaction within the geographical boundaries of watersheds. The particular concern in this dissertation is agricultural watersheds in North America that are embedded in ongoing processes of agricultural and rural change. These watersheds are becoming increasingly contested arenas by opposite attempts to, on one hand, increase agriculture's international competitive advantage through the reduction of government interference and, on the other hand, to protect noncommodity rural functions highly valued by newly arrived neighbors.;Some of the main methodological, practical and theoretical contributions of this doctoral dissertation include, respectively: (a) a biographical exploration of the research process that adds to ongoing discussions regarding the nature, challenges and benefits of PAR as academic research on natural resource management and environmental governance; (b) a reflective space for multi-stakeholder self-assessment and partnership improvement in the Maitland River watershed; and, (c) a conceptual framework informed by the policy network perspective on governance and CIWM praxis that focuses on the intersection of actors, institutions and ideas regarding agricultural production and environmental stewardship in relevant policy arenas. In this regard, the analysis of water quality protection policies and programs in Ontario over the last fifteen years suggests that, instead of forcing watershed-based governance structures, the examination of more flexible ways of linking watershed imperatives to existing and emerging meaningful scales in agricultural areas of Ontario and elsewhere is warranted.;The theoretical lens I chose to look through in this dissertation is the policy network perspective on governance, which focuses on the networks of interdependent actors who exchange resources and engage in reciprocal interactions in particular policy sectors. In order to pursue the dual aim of the dissertation, which included not only increasing understanding but also enabling change, I engaged in a cycle of participatory action research with a multi-stakeholder partnership in the Maitland River watershed, Ontario.