Identifying Legal, Ecological and Governance Obstacles, and Opportunities for Adapting to Climate Change

Barbara Cosens, Lance Gunderson, Craig Allen and Melinda Harm Benson
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Barbara Cosens: College of Law and Waters of the West, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID 83844, USA
Lance Gunderson: Department of Environmental Sciences, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
Craig Allen: Geological Survey, Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE 68583, USA
Melinda Harm Benson: Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA

Sustainability, 2014, vol. 6, issue 4, 1-19

Abstract: Current governance of regional scale water management systems in the United States has not placed them on a path toward sustainability, as conflict and gridlock characterize the social arena and ecosystem services continue to erode. Changing climate may continue this trajectory, but it also provides a catalyst for renewal of ecosystems and a window of opportunity for change in institutions. Resilience provides a bridging concept that predicts that change in ecological and social systems is often dramatic, abrupt, and surprising. Adapting to the uncertainty of climate driven change must be done in a manner perceived as legitimate by the participants in a democratic society. Adaptation must begin with the current hierarchical and fragmented social-ecological system as a baseline from which new approaches must be applied. Achieving a level of integration between ecological concepts and governance requires a dialogue across multiple disciplines, including ecologists with expertise in ecological resilience, hydrologists and climate experts, with social scientists and legal scholars. Criteria and models that link ecological dynamics with policies in complex, multi-jurisdictional water basins with adaptive management and governance frameworks may move these social-ecological systems toward greater sustainability.

Keywords: adaptive governance; ecological resilience; water law; sustainability; social-ecological system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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