Stakeholder Engagement Within Water Governance Processes in the Klamath Basin: A Power Theory-based Analysis
Open Access
- Author:
- Whitley, Hannah Terese
- Graduate Program:
- Rural Sociology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- May 12, 2023
- Committee Members:
- Brian Thiede, Professor in Charge/Director of Graduate Studies
Kathryn Brasier, Chair & Dissertation Advisor
Jennifer Baka, Outside Unit & Field Member
Justine Lindemann, Major Field Member
Lara Fowler, Special Member
Clare Hinrichs, Major Field Member - Keywords:
- Bureau of Reclamation
California
case study
collaborative governance
Department of the Interior
ethnography
irrigated agriculture
Klamath Basin
Oregon
political polarization
power theory
qualitative research
stakeholder engagement
State of Jefferson
transboundary watershed
water and agriculture
water governance - Abstract:
- This dissertation provides a comprehensive empirical examination of collaborative governance efforts in the Klamath Basin, a watershed traversing the Oregon-California border undergoing intense political conflict and resource management challenges. I apply theories of power to multiple qualitative data sources, including observations of 85 public meetings, interviews with 32 agricultural and natural resource stakeholders, digital ethnography, and extensive archival, policy, and newspaper data collected during 15 months of ethnographic fieldwork. Findings from these data are presented in four analytical chapters. The first analytical chapter (Chapter 5) provides a thorough overview of the Upper Klamath Basin’s water governance structure, tracing the region’s history and natural resource policies from pre-European settlement to the 2021 water year. Findings suggest that the Basin’s resource landscape is a labyrinth of complex water law, conflicting demands, and clashes between stakeholder groups. I present an organizational diagram of the Klamath Project water governance structure to illustrate the complicated web of state and federal agencies, tribal governments, irrigation districts, and agricultural advocacy organizations engaged in the watershed’s resource management. The second analytical chapter (Chapter 6) uses situational analysis methods proposed by Adele Clarke (2003) to investigate how Upper Klamath Basin governance processes involve stakeholders with differing power levels and incentives to participate. Findings from the social words/arenas mapping process confirm observations made by McCool (2018) about the role of collaboration in the Klamath Basin: groups of endogenous and exogenous stakeholders can control, influence, or interfere with decision-making. I identify an additional group of periphery stakeholders who are neither physically present at the governance decision-making table nor have the power to influence or interfere with such processes, yet remain interested in or affected by Basin water governance processes and outcomes. In the third analytical chapter (Chapter 7), I use the framework proposed by Brisbois and de Loe (2016) to examine how power was exerted in the actions, motivations, decision-making processes, and outcomes of Upper Klamath Basin stakeholder groups during the 2022 Klamath Project spring and summer irrigation seasons. My analysis identifies multiple ways in which the instrumental, structural, and discursive dimensions of power manifest in this case study. Here, I fill a theoretical and empirical gap in recognizing how power is exerted through collaborative governance processes and outcomes. In my fourth and final analytical chapter (Chapter 8), I detail the anti-state ideology, socio-cultural and political history of a movement for regional secession known as the "State of Jefferson" (SOJ). I use Tarrow's (1993) protest cycle framework to examine historical change and ongoing mobilization in the SOJ. My findings suggest that the SOJ is not just a "myth" or "state of mind," as past scholars have argued. Instead, the SOJ is a social movement with several protest cycle waves. These waves document historical change in the movement's framing, resource mobilization, and political opportunity, which has fluctuated since the mid-1800s. Throughout the movement's tenure, reasons for the desired secession have varied. However, the ideological, economic, and social differences that influence(d) the SOJ are firmly rooted in historical and contemporary contention over natural resources. Overall, this dissertation shows that multiple contextual factors affect the processes and outcomes of stakeholder engagement within Klamath Basin water governance, including the external effect of a hierarchical, bureaucratic decision-making processes and the internal contextual factors of multi-scalar power imbalances, individual incentives, and a history of prior conflict and cooperation. Findings also affirm findings from scholars of political polarization who claim that distrust of the government and its agencies are critical motivators in respondents’ views on environmental issues and willingness to participate in engagement processes.