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Local groundwater management studies in Ontario, Canada: A case for retaining a role for the state in community-based water research

Abstract Between 1998 and 2003, the provincial government in Ontario, Canada, administered a funding program to support groundwater management studies by local communities. The community focus of the initiative in many ways represents a more collaborative approach to generating the knowledge needed to inform local resource management decisions. The process and outcomes of the study program are assessed based on follow-up interviews with local study participants. We conclude that although the benefits of community-based research are apparent in many of the local study areas (eg. incorporation of local knowledge and values, and heightened community awareness of the need for groundwater protection), a lack of coordination among individual studies has resulted in the production of groundwater information that is incompatible across adjacent study areas and inadequate to support management measures at broader scales (eg. watershed). This outcome suggests the need for greater coordination within community-based water research initiatives where the results and subsequent management actions have potential implications beyond the immediate study boundaries. Thus, our analysis confirms a fundamental challenge of community-based research initiatives, and of decentralised governance approaches more generally - balancing the need for regional uniformity with the desire for greater local autonomy. Strategies for more effectively coordinating community-based water research are considered. While the analysis focuses on groundwater management and experiences in Ontario, the lessons learned are more broadly transferable.