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main issues and unknowns that need to be answered in order to make planning or
management decisions, they will likely support and invest themselves in a planning process
involving the development of computer models and decision support tools.
In addition, models developed in a participatory way provide a commonly agreed upon
representation of a system and its problems (Lynam et al., 2002). They become an image of
the common understanding that, although imperfect, can be changed and improved with
time. The participatory analysis during model development, and its contribution to decision
making, brings with it the necessary social learning that can alter and inform perceptions of
local problems and their cause-effect relationships.
4.2 DSS models in the middle rio grande (NM) and upper san pedro river (AZ)
In the Middle Rio Grande and the Upper San Pedro River, both DSS were developed in
collaboration with stakeholder groups within the setting of an open and participatory
process to solve management problems.
Following a state-wide water planning process in New Mexico, a voluntary group
composed of diverse stakeholder representatives from the Middle Rio Grande planning
region, and called the Middle Rio Grande Water Assembly (MRGWA) was the entity
responsible for the planning. Composed of five groups focusing on agriculture,
environment, urban development, water management and special technical issues, the
MRGWA started a public consultation process through monthly and quarterly meetings that
finally produced five scenarios or tentative management plans for the region. These
scenarios comprised different sets and combinations of 44 water management alternatives
identified by the public during the initial consultation processes. The quantifiable
alternatives were included in the Middle Rio Grande DSS model, which allowed a
quantitative comparison of the water conservation alternatives. At the end, the five
scenarios were combined to form a “preferred management plan” by the MRGWA, in close
collaboration with the Middle Rio Grande Council of Governments (MRGCOG),
representing the local governments that would be responsible for implementing the final
plan. Besides helping planners (MRGWA) and decision-makers (MRGCOG) to compare and
evaluate alternatives proposed by the public, the model was instrumental to familiarize and
engage the public itself in the planning process (Passell et al., 2003).
In the case of the Upper San Pedro basin, the Upper San Pedro Partnership was created to
solve the management challenge in the basin and close the gap between human demand,
natural availability and environmental needs. The USPP is also an organization composed
by stakeholder representatives from 21 state and federal agencies as well as other entities
and user groups, functioning at a voluntary basis. It is structured in three main committees:
the Partnership Advisory Committee (PAC), the Executive Committee (EC) and the
Technical Committee (TC). The PAC is the decision making body representing all entities;
the EC represents the member entities that finance projects and operations; and the TC
coordinates technical and scientific advice and oversight. Composed by representatives with
technical and scientific profiles from the member entities of the USPP and the modelers from
the University of Arizona, the TC reports to the PAC, so that decision-making can be
science-based. The DSS model was developed through monthly open meetings with the
Technical Committee, where other stakeholders and the public could participate.
Representatives in the TC had to agree and decide on alternatives and conservation
measures to be included in the model, as well as underlying assumptions, how to deal with
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