A lake management framework for global application: monitoring, restoring, and protecting lakes through community engagement

Abstract

Cianci-Gaskill JA, Klug JL, Merrell KC, et al. 2024. A lake management framework for global application: monitoring, restoring, and protecting lakes through community engagement. Lake Reserv Manage. 40:66–92.

Despite decades of management and regulation, global freshwater resources remain imperiled. Management has had mixed success in restoring degraded lakes and has few mechanisms for stopping the decline of high-quality systems. Too often, lake managers play catch-up by addressing stressors only after damage occurs or has become entrenched, or make decisions without acquiring sufficient information about how a lake might respond to proposed management actions. As a tool to address these management challenges, we propose the MoReCo (Monitoring, Restoring/Protecting, Community Engagement) lake management framework. The framework centers around community engagement, and we outline engagement mechanisms in the context of lake management. The framework includes 2 loops: a monitoring loop to detect emerging stressors, and a restoring/protecting loop to address stressors that are causing or may cause lake degradation. The MoReCo framework builds on the strengths of existing natural resource management frameworks and was developed to address the unique challenges associated with lake management and protection, as well as those resulting from climate change. Specifically, it can address multiple stressors concurrently, which makes it simultaneously suitable for ameliorating stressors while also protecting lake ecosystems. The MoReCo framework is an interactive and multidirectional process in which management occurs even when no stressor is apparent, and it incorporates explicit benchmarks for evaluating management actions and determining whether additional measures should be taken. This novel lake management framework is suitable to address any stressors that may threaten a lake ecosystem, and we present it here as a resource for those who manage freshwater resources.

Keywords:

• Climate preparedness
• ecosystem protection
• ecosystem restoration
• lake management framework
• monitoring
• natural resource management
• community engagement

Acknowledgments

Work presented here benefited from participation in the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network (GLEON). This manuscript came about from discussions in the Lake and Reservoir Management working group at the GLEON 21 meeting in Huntsville, Ontario, Canada, and grew legs at the GLEON 21.5 virtual meeting. Thanks to all who participated in discussions related to this framework at those meetings, especially A. Scofield and J. Hejzlar. Your thoughts and ideas were instrumental in shaping the MoReCo framework and this article. A special thank you also goes to K. M. Somers, G. Mierle, and P. J. Dillon, who, along with N. Yan, originally developed the predecessor of the MoReCo framework in 1995 for the Ontario Ministry of Environment and Energy. This project would not exist without your original idea and we are incredibly grateful for your willingness to share it with us. We also thank J.M. Gunn, S. Dodson, J.H. Myers, and D. Bazely, who, many years ago, saw the promise of the original framework and liked it enough to include it in their books. Finally, we thank the associate editor and 3 reviewers whose thoughtful questions, comments, and suggestions led to a much-improved final article.

Author contribution statement

The original idea for this framework was by NDY. The article was developed from discussions about the ideas and concepts of the framework that occurred between all coauthors. JCG, JLK, KCM, EEM, LK, MCAPM, and KF developed the manuscript’s structure and organization, and JCG, JLK, KCM, EEM, DJW, MCAPM, KF, and MRG wrote the article. JCG, JLK, KCM, EEM, DvW, MCAPM, MRG, and EMM contributed to literature review. JCG, JLK, KCM, EEM, DJW, LK, and DvW contributed to the creation of figures and tables. All authors provided edits and comments to drafts of the article, and approved the submitted version.

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Additional information

Funding

EEM received funding support from the Geoffrey F. Bruce Fellowship in Canadian Freshwater Policy. LK is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) under grant number 645.002.002. DvW was supported by the Wageningen Institute for Environment and Climate Research (WIMEK) [Grant number 5160957732] and the WGS Graduate Programme of Wageningen University & Research [Grant number 5100000470]. M. Paule-Mercado’s funding is from Czech Science Foundation project (23-07152S), Norway Grants, and the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic within the KAPPA Programme (TO01000202) and ERDF/ESF Project Biomanipulation (CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_025/0007417). ST was funded through the 2020–2021 Biodiversa and Water JPI joint call for research proposals, under the BiodivRestore ERA-Net COFUND program, and with the funding organizations of German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Agencia Estatal de Investigación, and Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality of the Netherlands.