The Limitations of Policy-Level Collaboration: A Meta-Analysis of CALFED

• Published in: Society & natural resources Vol. 28; no. 1; pp. 21 - 37
• Main Authors: Dutterer, Andrew D., Margerum, Richard D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Taylor & Francis Group 02.01.2015; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: adaptive management; CALFED; California; Collaboration; collaborative governance; Content analysis; Cooperation; Environment; Environmental restoration; Governance; Government and politics; Leadership; Management; Meta-analysis; Natural resource management; Natural Resources; Policy making; Political leaders; Political leadership; Politics; Risk; Risk assessment; Success; U.S.A; Water; Water resources; Water Supply; California; USA, California
• ISSN: 0894-1920; 1521-0723
• DOI: 10.1080/08941920.2014.945054

While collaboration has become a mainstream approach to managing natural resources, it faces difficulties in cases involving high-level policy. In 1994, state and federal partners agreed to collaborate on managing California's water resources in an effort known as CALFED. The program spent more than $3 billion on research, environmental restoration, and administration before its dissolution in 2007. Its outcomes are interpreted as having varying degrees of success. In this article, we identify theorized limitations of policy-level collaboration and use a meta-analysis of 32 sources on CALFED to evaluate the evidence explaining its dissolution. Our findings identified limitations in the literature related to problem, societal, and policy context, but highlighted different interpretations about politics, leadership, and governance arrangements. The lessons from CALFED include the limitations of adaptive management, the risk of dependence on political leadership, the challenges of an informal structure, and the flaws in efforts to more formally structure CALFED.