Unintended Consequences of Involving Stakeholders Too Late: Case Study in Multi-Objective Management

AbstractThis paper examines a case where a plan for aquifer management was constructed on the basis of a single criterion. Though the plan was constructed with stakeholder engagement, the criterion for planning success was predefined before any public input was solicited. The Texas state legislature had mandated all regions establish an aquifer plan but it also created the metric for planning success which it operationalized as the aquifer storage remaining after 50 years. The region of the research reported in this paper met the state’s requirement by setting a target for 50% of aquifer storage to remain after 50 years, a so-called 50/50 rule. As this aquifer is functionally nonrenewable, the 50-year storage target is only meaningful when defined in the context of a so-called terminal condition, or a time period for aquifer exhaustion. It is argued that the technical criterion and the policy target were introduced too early. This obviated important pathways of public discussion that could have addressed ...