Adaptive co-management and hydroclimatic change: examining the voluntary flow management program in the Upper Arkansas River Basin, Colorado

Apostolos Paul Landahl and Adrianne Kroepsch

Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 2024, vol. 67, issue 7, 1494-1512

Abstract: Adaptive co-management (ACM) has been advanced as a climate change adaptation strategy because of its social learning and collaboration dynamics. But it remains unclear whether ACM facilitates climate change adaptation in practice. Because rivers have been important laboratories for ACM efforts and research, this study examines a 30-year-old flow program on the Upper Arkansas River in Colorado (USA) to learn (a) how it is being impacted by climate change and (b) how participants are responding. The program has been largely successful in achieving its ecological and recreational flow goals, but it is being challenged by two hydroclimatic changes: earlier spring runoff and reduced stream flows. The program’s ACM dynamics are enabling adaptations that include efforts to communicate more proactively (social learning) and to compromise over the use of constrained flows (collaboration). We discuss these adaptations and pose additional questions about the future of the voluntary flow management program.

Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/09640568.2023.2174089 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:jenpmg:v:67:y:2024:i:7:p:1494-1512

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/CJEP20

DOI: 10.1080/09640568.2023.2174089

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Environmental Planning and Management is currently edited by Dr Neil Powe, Dr Ken Willis and George Bill Page

More articles in Journal of Environmental Planning and Management from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().