PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN WATERSHED MANAGEMENT: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Abstract

The prospects for expanded citizen involvement in environmental decision-making through public consultation are explored based on survey results and review of three case studies in the Grand River watershed. Public participation in watershed planning has expanded greatly during the last three decades, largely in response to the participation movement which has taken place since the 1960s. While not always compulsory, there exist strong normative expectations within the administrative bureaucracy that some form of public consultation be integrated into the environmental decision-making process. We explore the basis for this by contrasting the alternative visions from democratic theory on the role of public participation in state decision-making. The three case studies represent a range of environmental issues on which public consultation may take place, from exposure and development disputes, to long range planning. The survey results reflect views on public participation taken from a cross-section of the general public. The combined analysis provides a contextually rich account of the circumstances under which public consultation in watershed management occurs. We conclude by discussing the state of ambivalence which has come to characterize the environmental public involvement field, as well as considering its potential to serve as a mechanism for social change.