Governance and management of large US river basins in diverse regions under a federal government model

ABSTRACT

How water governance mechanisms differ is evident in three diverse basins in the United States: the Colorado River, the Missouri River, and the linked Apalachicola–Chattahoochee–Flint and Alabama–Coosa–Tallapoosa basins. Climate change is a major stressor in all three and requires flexibility to adapt. The roles of compacts, coordination mechanisms, allocation formulas, courts, and intergovernmental relationships are different, except the federal government’s operation of large reservoirs. Ambiguities in relative powers of the federal and state governments inhibit coordination and negotiation. A major feature of the federal system is importance of legal mechanisms for dispute resolution to supplement collective action.

KEYWORDS:

• River basins
• governance
• coordination
• state–federal
• dispute resolution
• Colorado
• Missouri and ACF/ACT basins

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).