Nested Localized Institutions for Adaptive Co-Management: A History of State Watershed Management in the Pacific Region of the United States

Abstract

Collaborative watershed management incorporates a number of recent innovations in natural resource management, from ecosystem-based management to adaptive co-management of social-ecological systems. Facing jurisdictional barriers to compliance with landmark federal environmental laws, state governments in the Pacific region embraced collaborative watershed management to simultaneously address diffused water pollution and habitat loss on private land. Collaborative watershed management functions by leveraging local social capital through monetary and nonmonetary incentives, enabling the application of common property regimes to multi-owner landscapes. Here, I describe the historical development of state watershed management frameworks in the Pacific region of the United States. Results indicate that federal financial incentives enabled states to establish unique watershed management frameworks to improve compliance with federal environmental law. I suggest that nested localized institutional design is an effective method of implementing adaptive co-management across socially and ecologically diverse landscapes.