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Road to Excellence Conference 2007
The history of Southwestern Pennsylvania flows from our rivers - one of the most abundant and secure watersheds in the world. As a shared asset, they literally wind throughout the region.
We currently face significant challenges to making the most of this resource. Our water quality is often poor and our flood controls, drinking and wastewater systems are often inadequate. Uncoordinated land use policies, federal mandates, geography, and the staggering costs of infrastructure improvements—perhaps greatly exceeding $10 billion for the region—combine to form tremendous problems that are exacerbated by the existence of hundreds of agencies charged with water management tasks. How do we respond?
As profound as southwestern Pennsylvania’s problems are, they are not entirely unique. Drawing on the experiences of communities that overcame some of the most difficult water conflicts in the US, the conference featured as its keynote speaker Dr. Bruce Stiftel, editor of Adaptive Governance and Water Conflict.
Adaptive governance is a relatively new concept. Based upon the principles of adaptive management of environmental systems, adaptive governance emerges as “the kind of governance that can both preserve the strengths of existing specialized authorities to exploit natural resources and alternatives in order to ensure the sustainability of both human and nature systems.”
In addition to Dr. Stiftel’s presentation, local, state, and regional leaders joined in a discussion of local concerns and the steps we must take to overcome barriers to adaptive governance.
