GWAM—An Institutional Model to Address Watershed Impacts from Urbanization: Conceptual Framework

The urbanization process exerts negative multidisciplinary impacts on the integrity of natural watershed conditions. These impacts are best analyzed and addressed with local inputs, as many of these are site specific and require consistent local monitoring along with appropriate policies and regulations from conventional governance in an interdisciplinary platform. With the realization of the limitations to top-down and bottom-up watershed management approaches in addressing issues associated with urbanization, a conceptual framework for a hybrid approach that tries to effectively integrate the advantages of the two approaches while overcoming their respective limitations, the Grass root Watershed Management model (GWAM), is presented in this paper. The model is to establish a self-sustaining and effective institutional forum that can be used in watersheds across geographical and political boundaries while accommodating the urbanization process. GWAM consists of three crucial components: a common platform, a partnership among major groups of stakeholders, and a facilitation mechanism to conduct the watershed management at local lever or grass-root level. With effective integration of the governmental agencies and institutes at the top with the local residents and non-governmental organizations at the bottom, the concept is that the hybrid approach can serve as a self-sustaining model in achieving effective management of urbanization impacts.

GWAM—An Institutional Model to Address Watershed Impacts from Urbanization: Field Validation

With the realization of the limitations to top-down and bottom-up watershed management approaches in addressing issues associated with urbanization, a conceptual framework for a hybrid approach that tries to effectively integrate the advantages of the two approaches while overcoming their respective limitations, grass root watershed management model (GWAM), was proposed and presented. This paper presents the details of implementation and validation of GWAM at Shawsheen River watershed in Massachusetts, USA. An investigation on the major components of GWAM, a common platform to conduct the management, a partnership of two major stakeholder groups from government and non-governmental organizations, and a facilitation mechanisms were carried out in detail to gain the needed understanding on structure, process and function of a successful GWAM. Also the decision making process in addressing three major urban watershed issues;flooding, habitat and aquatic life impairment, and bacterial impairment, were examined through a set of cyclic steps. Based on the lessons learned, GWAM was enhanced as a general hybrid model. The most important challenge in sustaining GWAM was to keep differently motivated stakeholders together. As revealed in the Shawsheen watershed, science should play a key role in keeping differently motivated stakeholders together by providing needed facts, understandings, data, and knowledge. When scientifically sound solutions are vetted through a process of public involvement that supports appropriate regulatory actions, the most effective environmental decisions can be made.