The TEAM Approach, “Together for Environmental Assessment and Management”: A Process for Developing Effective Lake Management Plans or Water Resource Policy

ABSTRACT

TEAM, “Together for Environmental Assessment and Management,” offers a new approach for developing comprehensive and integrative lake management plans and water resource policy. TEAM is a three-step process, one ideally sponsored by a legislative or executive arm of government. It involves “stakeholders,” lay citizens, and technical “experts” which may include academics, private professionals, and regulatory or management agency personnel. Using the TEAM approach, stakeholders and lay citizens together in a citizens' forum identify, define, and prioritize their concerns and potential courses of action concerning a water resource issue (s). Then, “pro” and “con” teams of professionals provide technical information and a peer-reviewed debate of technical aspects of citizens' concerns. Last, with this information citizens discuss and ultimately vote on a course(s) of action with regard to a lake management plan or a water resource policy. The recommendation(s) of citizens is provided to appropriate policymakers and the public.

The goal of the TEAM approach is to improve upon traditional modes of public participation and scientific peer review in order to more efficiently and effectively integrate them with the policy making process. TEAM does this with four basic strengths. First, unlike traditional approaches where lay citizens and professionals work as a single unit, TEAM provides citizens and technical experts with separate but complementary forums and responsibilities. Second, TEAM ensures that opinions of stakeholders as well as those of the public-at-large are fairly represented. Third, TEAM structures a timely, constructive debate of politically relevant technical issues using the familiar structure of scientific peer review. Through a pro versus con debate, it promotes identification and definition of points of scientific agreement, disagreement, and uncertainty. Last, TEAM can bring long-term cost-effectiveness to the policy making process, particularly in terms of saving the time of human resources.

Key Words:

• lake management
• conflict resolution
• water policy
• citizen participation
• peer review