Reaching Accord on Meeting Water Supply Needs: Citizen & Decision Maker Perspectives

Proceedings of the 2003 Georgia Water Resources Conference, held April 23-24, 2003, at the University of Georgia.Like many areas in the Southeast, water supply decisions are failing to keep up with population and economic growth in Cumberland County, TN. Despite six technically feasible options, social factors such as the attitudes of residents toward building a new dam and the conflicting views of decision-makers about how to meet water supply needs are impeding the implementation of a regional strategy for managing the county’s water resources. Better understanding these social impediments could improve the effectiveness of local and regional water management strategies. Preliminary results suggest that when conflict arises over reconciling economic growth and environmental protection concerns, decision makers must move beyond considering only technical or engineering solutions for meeting water supply needs and contend with the underlying values of stakeholders involved in the water policy process