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This research provides details of water resource conflict and cooperation in
Oregon between 1990 and 2004 by using an event database methodology. Events were
concentrated in four of 18 basins. No basin accounted for more that 25% of the total
water rights events, the most evenly distributed issue type. Overall more events were
cooperative and very few were of high intensity. High intensity conflict covered one
issue type- instream, while cooperative covered five supporting results seen at
international scale. The occurrence of water quality events increases as the scale
decreases.
Spatial and temporal analysis indicate that surface water supply correlates to
overall conflict and cooperation levels better than population density, consumptive use
and water quality. However, major conflictive outbreaks or cooperative breakthroughs
are correlated to institutional changes in the social system (cooperation in 1991, 1999,
and 2004; conflict in 1991, 2001, and 2004), acting as either an instigator or resolution
of resource conflict. Water resource conflict was shown to intensify over time, and
major conflictive events tend to lead to major cooperative events. Additionally, this
process is unique to conflict; cooperative processes are not easily undermined by a
conflictive action.
Finally, policy recommendations are presented to increase water resource
manager’s ability to foster dispute resolution and to engage key stakeholders.
Implementation of these techniques should provide water resource managers with the
necessary tools to manage conflict, not make it disappear entirely. |
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