Collaborative governance and the transformation of hydrosocial territory in the Columbia River Basin, United States

Keywords: Collaborative governance, water governance, hydrosocial territories, salmon conservation and recovery, Columbia River Basin, political ecology, environmental justice
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

In Pacific Northwest river basins, salmon and steelhead act as ecological and cultural keystone species that are both indicative and constitutive of riverine health. However, over the past 150 years in the Columbia River Basin, these fish populations have dropped precipitously as a result of complex social, economic, and ecological factors. Using a political ecology lens, this research uses the 2017 salmon and steelhead conservation efforts of the 28-member Columbia Basin Partnership Task Force (CBPTF) as a case study to ask the following questions: 1) are collaborative governance processes sufficient to achieve a shared vision for the conservation and recovery of salmon and steelhead, and 2) how do these processes align, preserve, and resolve plural narratives of power with regards to water? This presentation will address how and why the CBPTF was able to convene a large group of people with different priorities to achieve consensus on salmon and steelhead recovery goals, and offer lessons learned for the transformation of hydrosocial territories. Using textual analyses of meeting minutes and over 20 semi-structured interviews with members and convenors of the CBPTF, preliminary results indicate that broader and more intentional inclusion of sovereign entities, especially of tribal nations, is critical for restoration of the Columbia River Basin, salmon and steelhead recovery, and environmental justice. As communities increasingly turn to collaborative governance as a means to navigate claims for community, conservation, and cultural values, this critical analysis of sociopolitical and socioecological dynamics offers ideas for producing resilient and just hydrosocial futures.