Adaptive vs. Environmental Management in BC's Water Use Planning Process

The construction and operation of hydroelectric facilities can have dramatic impacts on aquatic ecosystems. In British Columbia, a Water Use Planning (WUP) process evaluated power and non-power water uses to meet multiple objectives and established contemporary water management and dam operating procedures. These operattions were incorporated into the Water Licences for 42 facilities operated by BC Hydro across 23 watersheds, with a combined generating capacity of 10,000 Megawatts. Adaptive management was a preferred policy approach during WUPs to manage issues of time scope and scientific uncertainty. Adaptive management typically includes a 6-step cyclical process: Assess → Design → Implement → Monitor → Evaluate → Adjust. The collaborative, structured decision making approach of WUPs addressed the steps of Assess and Design. Recommended operations were Implemented along with the associated effectiveness Monitoring programs. In many watersheds, these operations include instream flows to benefit highly valued fish populations in rivers. A review processes 5 to 10 years following implementation addressed the steps to Evaluate and Adjust. Most watersheds have completed, or are nearing this review process. We highlight examples that employ rigorous, ‘active’ adaptive management (i.e., planned operational experiments to assess the functional relationship between operations and ecological variables), vs. 'passive' adaptive management (i.e., single operation with effectiveness monitoring for refinement purposes), vs. pretend adaptive management (i.e., we’ll adapt as we go). We also highlight those watersheds and the associated conditions under which true adaptive management was an effective tool, and where environmental management was sufficient to meet the management objectives.