Nebraska’s Natural Resource District system: Collaborative approaches to adaptive groundwater quality governance
Nonpoint source pollution of groundwater by nitrates from agricultural activity is a persistent problem for which developing effective policy approaches has proven difficult. There is little empirical information on forms of governance or regime attributes that effectively and sustainably address...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Water Alternatives Association
2019-06-01
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| Series: | Water Alternatives |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.water-alternatives.org/index.php/alldoc/articles/vol12/v12issue2/498-a12-2-5/file |
| Summary: | Nonpoint source pollution of groundwater by nitrates from agricultural activity is a persistent problem
for which developing effective policy approaches has proven difficult. There is little empirical information on forms
of governance or regime attributes that effectively and sustainably address agricultural nonpoint source pollution
of groundwater. Nebraska’s Natural Resource District (NRD) system is a rare example of a groundwater governance
regime that is putting programmes in place that are likely to generate sustainable groundwater quality outcomes.
We focus on three groundwater nitrate management programmes in the state that collectively represent the
broader NRD system. The research shows that four elements of Nebraska’s groundwater governance regime are
fundamental to its success in addressing groundwater nitrates: 1) the local nature of governance, which builds trust
among stakeholders; 2) the significant authority granted to the local districts by the state, allowing for the
development of locally tailored solutions; 3) the collaborative governance approach, which allows potential scale
imbalances to be overcome; and 4) the taxing authority granted to NRDs, which enables them to fund locally tailored
management solutions. We find that these aspects of the NRD system have created conditions that enable adaptive,
collaborative governance that positions the state well to address emerging groundwater quality challenges. We
present aspects of the governance regime that are generalisable to other American states as efforts to address
nitrate pollution in groundwater increase. |
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| ISSN: | 1965-0175 1965-0175 |