A River Won:
Facilitating Cooperative Negotiation of
Transboundary Water Resource Management in the
Columbia River Basin through Documentary Film
Julie Elkins Watson
Oregon State University Graduate Student
Water Resources Policy & Management MS
Water Conflict Management & Transformation
Geographic Information Science
[email protected]
Integrated Water
Resource Management (IWRM)
Hierarchic Regulatory
Solidarity
(coercive power)
Individualistic Market
Solidarity
(persuasive power)
Civic Egalitarian
Solidarity
(moral/cognitive power)
http://www.springintoactionnyc.com/socialmission/the_triple_bottom_line_model
Dipak Gyawali- IUCN “Negotiate”
Constructive Engagement
IUCN “Negotiate”
Cooperative Negotiation
IUCN “Negotiate”
Expanding the Pie
Sharing the “Basket of Benefits”
"By going beyond viewing situations or issues as having
a constant or fixed value, more can be added to the
situation than seems apparent at first... Something new
or different may be created through understanding the
reasons for why something is wanted or desired."
(IUCN's Negotiate report: Dore, Robinson, & Smith, 2010)
The Facilitative Filmmaker:
Film as a 4th Party Facilitator
Facilitation/Conciliation
• Facilitating Interest Sharing



Active Listening
Summarizing
Clarifying
• Conciliation




Moore , 2003
Trust
Understanding
Respect
Cooperation
Facilitators
• 3rd Party

An impartial party who
encourages dialogue
• 4th Party



Decision Support Systems
Online Dispute
Resolution
Documentary Film?
Can documentary films facilitate
cooperative negotiation towards
transboundary IWRM?

Do they promote dialogue?

Do they facilitate
understanding/empathy
amongst parties?

Do they encourage parties
to consider new scenarios?
The
Story
of
a
River
The Columbia River




Basin the size of Texas/France (258,000 mi2)
Two countries, seven states, and one province
Sovereign tribes & First Nations
4th largest U.S. river by volume
A Managed River
 Columbia River Treaty: U.S. & Canada, 1964
 Dams, hydropower, agriculture, cities
A Valued River
 Some values recognized in the treaty
 Others (e.g. historical, cultural, ecological, aesthetic
values) were not included
 Stakeholders: included/not included
Why it matters:
Timing: a treaty in transition
Values: a need to explore diverse/shifting values
Opportunity: a chance to rethink & change
Implications: enhance facilitation
techniques to promote cooperative
transboundary water management
• Facilitative Documentary

Stakeholder Interviews
• Data Collection



Pre-viewing baseline survey
Post-viewing survey
Quantitative/qualitative
• Data analysis & reporting
A River Loved
A Documentary about the Columbia River
(Trailer)
References

Ball-Rokeach, S. J., M. Rokeach, and J. W. Grube
(1984). The great American values test. The Free
Press: New York.

Chen, C. W., J. Herr, and L. Weintraub (2004).
Decision support system for stakeholder
involvement. Journal of Envionmental
Engineering, 130(6): 714-721.

Cosens, Barbara (2010). “Transboundary river
governance in the face of uncertainty: Resilience
theory and the Columbia River Treaty.”
Journal of Land, Resources, and Environmental
Law, 30(2).

Dore, D., J. Robinson, and M. Smith, eds. (2010).
Negotiate: Reaching agreements over water.
International Union for Conservation of Nature and
Natural Resources (IUCN) Water & Nature Initiative,
IUCN Publications: Gland, Switzerland.

Moore, C. W. (2003). The mediation process:
Practical strategies for resolving conflict. 3rd ed.
Wiley, John & Sons: San Francisco.

Nadler, J. (2001). "Electronically-mediated dispute
resolution and e-commerse." Journal of Negotation,
17(4): 333-347.

Pruitt, D. and S. Lewis (1977). "The psychology of
integrative bargaining." In D. Druckman (ed.),
Negotations: A social psychological perspective.
Sage: Thousand Oaks, CA.

Columbia River Treaty: Treaty relating to
cooperative development of the water resources
of the Columbia River Basin (with Annexes),
Signed 17 Jan 1961. Ratified 16 Sept 1964.

Sadoff, C., T. Greiber, M. Smith, and G. Bergkamp
(2008). Share: Managing water across boundaries.
International Union for Conservation of Nature and
Natural Resources (IUCN) Water & Nature Initiative,
IUCN Publications: Gland, Switzerland.

Photo credits: Brett Watson

Wolf, Aaron T (2007). “Shared waters: Conflict and
cooperation.” Annual Review of Environment and
Resources, 32: 241-269
A River Won:
Facilitating Cooperative Negotiation of
Transboundary Water Resource Management in the
Columbia River Basin through Documentary Film
Questions & Feedback are Welcome!
Julie Elkins Watson
Oregon State University Graduate Student
Water Resources Policy & Management MS
Water Conflict Management & Transformation
Geographic Information Science
[email protected]