| Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) is a California State Department of Water Resources program intended to promote collaborative regional water management planning. This study examines stakeholder participation and satisfaction in the Bay Area Integrated Regional Water Management Plan (IRWMP), as well as the outputs of the process to date and the extent to which it has increased integration in Bay Area Water management. It is based on open-ended interviews with select stakeholders, a quantitative survey of a large group of stakeholders, and documentary analysis. We find that IRWMP has succeeded to an extent in generating social capital among certain participants. But, overall satisfaction with the process is low, particularly among watershed/habitat-oriented organizations. In terms of increasing integration, IRWMP has so far only been able to channel money to pre-existing collaborative projects. We suggest that a short time frame for planning and an excessively large geographic scope has favored large water agencies and hampered the participation of other stakeholder groups, leading to a regional plan that is focused more on distributing state funds than generating new collaborative initiatives. Time will tell whether the shortcomings of IRWMP thus far reflect systemic problems with the Bay Area's approach to integrated planning, or the growing pains of an experimental program in its early stages. |
