| This case study examines the role of power and science in a watershed planning process aimed at stopping the pollution of the río Ayuquila, a large river in west-central Mexico. The case involved a sugar mill and two large towns that were discharging untreated wastewater into the river, riparian communities affected by river pollution, local governments, federal and state agencies, and two conservation institutions, the Sierra de Manantlán Biosphere Reserve and its university affiliate, the Manantlán Institute for Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation. The conservation institutions used several different approaches and tactics during more than a ten-year period to try to involve marginalized communities in river management.; Participatory watershed planning literature advocates the use of consensus-based decision-making to enable participation of watershed “stakeholders” in planning processes. In this model, stakeholders are involved in decision-making through an iterative process of problem definition, formulation of goals and objectives, development of plans or solutions, implementation, and monitoring and feedback. Scientific information plays a central role of informing each stage of the planning process. Proponents of this approach claim that because all of the “stakeholders” have been involved and informed throughout the planning and implementation process, and have had sound scientific information upon which to base their decisions, the end result reflects local concerns, knowledge, and values, while simultaneously meeting environmental objectives.; This case study characterizes citizen participation in watershed management and examines the validity of explicit and implicit assumptions that participatory watershed planning models are based upon. Contrary to the claims of participatory watershed planning, consensus-based decision-making did not result in meaningful participation, inclusion of all legitimate “stakeholders”, or improvements in river management. Rather, meaningful citizen participation was due to the creation of alliances between conservation institutions and communities affected by pollution, and citizen initiatives that occurred outside of formal planning processes. Improvements in water quality were due to the strategic use of science and citizen activism to gain power over environmental enforcement agencies. These results present a powerful counter-narrative to the prevailing beliefs about how to promote democratic and ecologically sound watershed planning. |
