Water Policy Fellowships

Bryan Poirier

Bryan is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Geography at the University of Guelph and a member of the Guelph Water Management Group. He holds research fellowships with the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation Freshwater Policy Programme, and the Cecil H. Franklin Soil and Water Conservation Programme. His research focuses on water governance in Canada from a political ecology perspective, with special emphasis on the issue of aquatic ecosystem protection in semi-arid regions.

Fellowship Project Description

Policy Innovation and Aquatic Ecosystem Protection in Southern Alberta

The purpose of the fellowship project was to advance the policy goal of healthy aquatic ecosystems in Southern Alberta by fostering dialogue on this topic among leading water governance actors in the Oldman River Basin (ORB) and by highlighting the primary challenges faced by these actors in their efforts to implement policies for aquatic ecosystem protection. In the interest of overcoming these challenges, the project also sought to highlight examples of how such policies have been implemented in other semi-arid parts of the world.

Three specific objectives guided the project: 1) To identify international examples of innovative policies and practices for the protection of aquatic ecosystems in semi-arid environments; 2) To evaluate the potential benefits and challenges of implementing such policies and practices in the specific context of the ORB; and 3) To offer recommendations for adapting existing institutions (and/or for introducing new ones) to better serve the goal of healthy aquatic ecosystems.

Two case studies, namely, the 1) Klamath River in Oregon and California (USA) and the 2) Barmah-Millewa Forest in New South Wales (Australia), were used to focus the investigation for the first research objective. These cases provided contrasting approaches to aquatic ecosystem protection and help set the context for the empirical field work that followed.

Two data sets were used to address the second and third research objectives. The first of these was drawn from a series of meetings with a core group of seven water governance actors from Southern Alberta. The meetings aimed to determine the potential barriers to policy innovation for aquatic ecosystem protection in the ORB. A second data set, including 72 documents (e.g., policies, legislation, watershed plans, technical reports, etc.) and personal observations from 14 watershed workshops, was used for additional depth and verification purposes.

Analysis revealed eight specific factors affecting progress towards aquatic ecosystem protection in the ORB and a series of possible strategies from overcoming these challenges (later condensed into five formal recommendations).

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	Water Policy Fellowships Bryan Poirier Bryan is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Geography at the University of Guelph and a member of the Guelph Water Management Group. He holds research fellowships with the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation Freshwater Policy Programme, and the Cecil H. Franklin Soil and Water Conservation Programme. His research focuses on water governance in Canada from a political ecology perspective, with special emphasis on the issue of aquatic ecosystem protection in semi-arid regions. Fellowship Project Description Policy Innovation and Aquatic Ecosystem Protection in Southern Alberta The purpose of the fellowship project was to advance the policy goal of healthy aquatic ecosystems in Southern Alberta by fostering dialogue on this topic among leading water governance actors in the Oldman River Basin (ORB) and by highlighting the primary challenges faced by these actors in their efforts to implement policies for aquatic ecosystem protection. In the interest of overcoming these challenges, the project also sought to highlight examples of how such policies have been implemented in other semi-arid parts of the world. Three specific objectives guided the project: 1) To identify international examples of innovative policies and practices for the protection of aquatic ecosystems in semi-arid environments; 2) To evaluate the potential benefits and challenges of implementing such policies and practices in the specific context of the ORB; and 3) To offer recommendations for adapting existing institutions (and/or for introducing new ones) to better serve the goal of healthy aquatic ecosystems. Two case studies, namely, the 1) Klamath River in Oregon and California (USA) and the 2) Barmah-Millewa Forest in New South Wales (Australia), were used to focus the investigation for the first research objective. These cases provided contrasting approaches to aquatic ecosystem protection and help set the context for the empirical field work that followed. Two data sets were used to address the second and third research objectives. The first of these was drawn from a series of meetings with a core group of seven water governance actors from Southern Alberta. The meetings aimed to determine the potential barriers to policy innovation for aquatic ecosystem protection in the ORB. A second data set, including 72 documents (e.g., policies, legislation, watershed plans, technical reports, etc.) and personal observations from 14 watershed workshops, was used for additional depth and verification purposes. Analysis revealed eight specific factors affecting progress towards aquatic ecosystem protection in the ORB and a series of possible strategies from overcoming these challenges (later condensed into five formal recommendations). << Go back
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