Resilience in a time of drought: building a transferable model for collective action in North Coast watersheds
Graduation Date
2014
Document Type
Project
Program
Other
Program
Project (M.A.)--Humboldt State University, Sociology, 2014
Committee Chair Name
Elizabeth Watson
Committee Chair Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Keywords
Rational behavior, Water security, Technology transfer, Water diversions, Watershed stewardship, Drought, Self-governing, South Fork Eel River, Mattole River, Low water flows, Feasibility study, Common pool resource, Sanctuary Forest, Southern Humboldt County, Participatory action research, California, North Coast, Collaborative watershed restoration, Redwood Creek, Place dependence, Place attachment, Salmon, Humboldt State University -- Projects -- Sociology, Northern California
Abstract
For thousands of years, an abundance of salmon coincided with the development of numerous human communities in Northern California. When Euro-American settlers arrived the 1800s, water diversions and a slough of other behaviors were introduced, contributing to a steep decline of native salmon populations. Today, cumulative human impacts—coupled with California's extreme drought—have resulted in the degradation of salmon habitat and a decrease in water security for rural residents who rely upon local watercourses for their household and irrigation needs. In Southern Humboldt County on California's North Coast, longer dry seasons and an observable trend toward low water flows in the Mattole River inspired a local land trust called Sanctuary Forest to implement a collaborative watershed restoration effort from 2005-2013, focused on managing water diversions among rural residents. Their strategy for self-governing a common pool resource resulted in measurable improvements in streamflows within their program area and a cultural shift toward watershed stewardship. The objective of this project was to produce a technology transfer guide for stakeholders in North Coast watersheds on how to replicate or scale-out water conservation strategies from one setting to another while accounting for the complex socio-cultural and ecological variables that exist in every populated rural watershed. The guide is based on methods that were employed during the feasibility study for transferring Sanctuary Forest's streamflow improvement strategy to Redwood Creek on the South Fork of the Eel River. Within a participatory action research framework, place attachment and place dependence are emphasized as significant factors that can promote rational behavior among local residents.
Recommended Citation
Schremmer, Sara Louise Camp, "Resilience in a time of drought: building a transferable model for collective action in North Coast watersheds" (2014). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 2171.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/2171
https://scholarworks.calstate.edu/concern/theses/1j92gb04x