Building Watershed Partnerships For Sustainable Development: A comparative analysis of partnerships in the Biesbosch and the San Francisco Estuary

Abstract

This comparative case study, examining two partnerships in the San Francisco Estuary and two in the Biesbosch, seeks to contribute to the body of knowledge on good water governance. More specifically, it zooms into the waterscapes known as estuaries to find out how the relevant actors can work to achieve better water governance systems that are (1) respectable, (2) legitimate, and (3) robust. To do so, it poses the central research question:

Which explanatory factors promote or hinder the development of watershed partnerships in the Biesbosch and the San Francisco estuaries? Furthermore, how can any incongruities with the assessments of theoretical literature be explained?

The research tackled this question by assembling a cluster of independent variables derived from literature and tested them in the four areas. The main findings were that communication and the adaptability/ flexibility of a partnership were the most important factors for success. When tested, the relationship between the partnerships’ conformity to aggregated list of independent variables versus their actual success proved to be internally valid, but was externally unverifiable, as the results were inconsistent when interpreted in an isolated context without the knowledge of contextual information. This discrepancy is due to the fact that the independent variables tested did not account for the external factors and events that affected the functioning of the partnerships. Overall, this list of independent variables is useful as a tool for partially assessing partnership success, however it is in need of refinement, especially in its inclusion of exogenous factors in the analysis.