Bridge over troubled water : partnerships and the prospect of adaptive capacity among small Oregon coast water systems

Graduation date: 2014The Oregon Coast's small water systems, like the vast number of small water systems across the U.S., are greatly vulnerable. Failing infrastructure, limited financial capital, and inadequate staff combined with future changes in climate, population size, and regulatory stringency spell out a potentially dire future for the region's water supply and subsequently, its economy. To address small water system vulnerability, partnerships (i.e. regionalized and collaborative approaches to water management and delivery) have received increasing attention as a tool for improving managerial, technical, and financial capacities. But how do these relate to system adaptive capacity, i.e. the ability to respond and adjust to change? In an effort to evaluate regional partnerships and provide guidance to Oregon coastal water system managers as to how to appropriately use it, this study sets out to 1) assess the spectrum of water system partnership types through the framework of adaptive capacity; 2) identify likely drivers and barriers to partnership establishment and ways to overcome them; and 3) assemble recommendations and lessons learned for successful, adaptive capacity-building partnerships. This study suggests that partnerships do in fact increase adaptive capacity, and specifically, that more formalized partnership types (joint powers agencies and consolidations) provide the greatest adaptive capacity characteristics. The number of barriers far outweighed drivers, and recommendations for partnership success converged most commonly around the topic of fair governance. Recommended state actions, opportunities for financing, an evaluation of the adaptive capacity framework, and suggestions for further research are offered