A Multiple Case Study of Community-Based Water Management Initiatives in New Brunswick

Abstract

Sustainable development is based on a search for strategies compatible with social values, economic feasibility and ecosystem integrity. In the domain of water, integrated resource management is widely recognized as a strategy to sustainability as reflected in the Canadian Water Resources Association’s Sustainability Principles. Central to furthering this recognition as well as the acceptance and implementation of integration in water management is the examination of contemporary institutional experience. This paper uses a multiple case study methodology to examine the contribution the community-based organizations make to integrated water management in the province of New Brunswick. A comprehensive framework of integration indices with a broad spectrum of management elements provides guidance for the examination and analysis of five provincial cases. We conclude that the five organizations have adapted critical elements of integration to varying degrees and that their experience generally confirms observations and theories regarding the implementation of integrated resource management.