Implementing comprehensive plans: indicators for a task-sheet based performance evaluation process

Evaluation in spatial planning aims to raise effectiveness of plans as well as efficiency in planning processes. Given that research regarding evaluation of performance and especially plan implementation is sparse, this study presents a minimal set of indicators for a task-sheet based performance evaluation approach for Swiss cantonal comprehensive plans. Thematic task-sheets are a promising characteristic of cantonal comprehensive plans. They translate the comprehensive planning strategy into concrete evaluable tasks. The presented indicators allow assessing procedural efficiency of coordination and implementation of planning tasks (performance). We argue that if task-sheets comply with certain plan quality characteristics, a task-sheet based performance evaluation approach can support the effectiveness of plans and promote the objectives of the planning strategy. We point out plan content and characteristics necessary for effective execution of our approach. As a result, our findings can serve as a framework for designing evaluation processes for comprehensive planning documents beyond Switzerland.     

Impediments and Solutions to Sustainable,Watershed-Scale Urban Stormwater Management: Lessons from Australia and the United States

In urban and suburban areas, stormwater runoff is a primary stressor on surface waters. Conventional urban stormwater drainage systems often route runoff directly to streams and rivers, thus exacerbating pollutant inputs and hydrologic disturbance, and resulting in the degradation of ecosystem structure and function. Decentralized stormwater management tools, such as low impact development (LID) or water sensitive urban design (WSUD), may offer a more sustainable solution to stormwater management if implemented at a watershed scale. These tools are designed to pond, infiltrate, and harvest water at the source, encouraging evaporation, evapotranspiration, groundwater recharge, and re-use of stormwater. While there are numerous demonstrations of WSUD practices, there are few examples of widespread implementation at a watershed scale with the explicit objective of protecting or restoring a receiving stream. This article identifies seven major impediments to sustainable urban stormwater management: (1) uncertainties in performance and cost, (2) insufficient engineering standards and guidelines, (3) fragmented responsibilities, (4) lack of institutional capacity, (5) lack of legislative mandate, (6) lack of funding and effective market incentives, and (7) resistance to change. By comparing experiences from Australia and the United States, two developed countries with existing conventional stormwater infrastructure and escalating stream ecosystem degradation, we highlight challenges facing sustainable urban stormwater management and offer several examples of successful, regional WSUD implementation. We conclude by identifying solutions to each of the seven impediments that, when employed separately or in combination, should encourage widespread implementation of WSUD with watershed-based goals to protect human health and safety, and stream ecosystems.     

构建适应新国土空间规划的流域空间管控体系

优化空间格局、强化空间管控是我国新时期生态环境保护及资源开发利用顶层设计的一项重要战略任务。近年来,《生态文明体制改革总体方案》《关于建立国土空间规划体系并监督实施的若干意见》等一系列文件,明确提出在国土空间规划中强化生态文明建设理念传导、落实多规合一、突出用途管制等重大调整。流域水生态环境空间管控体系亟须转型,适应国土空间规划体系改革调整等带来的新形势、新要求。本文在详细梳理流域水生态环境空间管控体系演变历程的基础上,深入分析新时期形势和要求,进一步扩充完善了原有体系：创新水功能区、控制单元的功能定位,突出流域完整性与系统性,初步提出了包含全国—流域—水功能区—控制单元—行政区划的空间分区构想;细化设计了统筹水资源、水生态、水环境的目标指标体系;明确了突出功能用途的生态环境管控措施和责任落实体系,为下一步流域水生态环境空间管理政策顶层设计提供决策参考。     

Changing Approaches to Mountain Watersheds Management in Mainland South and Southeast Asia

Mountain watersheds, comprising a substantial proportion of national territories of countries in mainland South and Southeast Asia, are biophysical and socioeconomic entities, regulating the hydrological cycle, sequestrating carbon dioxide, and providing natural resources for the benefit of people living in and outside the watersheds. A review of the literature reveals that watersheds are undergoing degradation at varying rates caused by a myriad of factors ranging from national policies to farmers' socioeconomic conditions. Many agencies—governmental and private—have tried to address the problem in selected watersheds. Against the backdrop of the many causes of degradation, this study examines the evolving approaches to watershed management and development. Until the early 1990s, watershed management planning and implementation followed a highly centralized approach focused on heavily subsidized structural measures of soil conservation, planned and implemented without any consultation with the mainstream development agencies and local people. Watershed management was either the sole responsibility of specially created line agencies or a project authority established by external donors. As a consequence, the initiatives could not be continued or contribute to effective conservation of watersheds. Cognizant of this, emphasis has been laid on integrated, participatory approaches since the early 1990s. Based on an evaluation of experiences in mainland South and Southeast Asia, this study finds not much change in the way that management plans are being prepared and executed. The emergence of a multitude of independent watershed management agencies, with their own organizational structures and objectives and planning and implementation systems has resulted in watershed management endeavors that have been in complete disarray. Consistent with the principle of sustainable development, a real integrated, participatory approach requires area-specific conservation programs that are well incorporated into integrated socioeconomic development plans prepared and implemented by local line agencies in cooperation with nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and concerned people.     

基于“三生共赢”的小流域水环境综合治理对策研究

小流域是实现重点流域精准化治理的基本单元,"三生共赢"是指要把解决环境问题的目标定位于生活、生产与生态的协调发展,是实现小流域环境改善和可持续发展的根本路径。本研究立足于流域水环境质量改善,以"三生共赢"和可持续发展理念为指导,提出了基于"三生共赢"的小流域水环境综合治理理论架构,即立足于水环境质量改善和水资源的优化配置,强化流域水环境约束,以尽可能小的环境代价支撑流域经济结构优化、新型城镇化发展,以资源高效和循环利用为核心,大力发展循环经济体系和循环社会体系,并通过创新流域治理体制机制构建成本共担利益共享格局,最终实现小流域社会经济可持续发展。本研究基于以上理论架构设计了生态环境、绿色经济、优质宜居三大类指标体系24项具体指标,并重点从优化流域空间开发格局、构建产业绿色发展体系、改善城乡居民生活环境、提升流域生态系统功能、健全流域治理体制机制等方面分析了小流域水环境综合治理对策。本研究可为各级政府创新流域治理模式、制定小流域水环境综合治理规划提供较为可行的理论支撑和技术体系。     

Multiple attribute evaluation of landscape management

Economic approaches to the valuation of ecological services have several limitations. Some of these limitations can be overcome using the multiple attribute decision-making model developed in this paper. The model postulates that a private or public decision-maker selects a site/landscape management plan based on the biophysical and economic attributes of alternative management plans, the decision-maker’s preferences for attributes, and constraints on the selection of a management plan.Two cases are examined. Case A is a watershed consisting of publicly owned land that is managed at the site, management unit and landscape scales. Management is based on the philosophy of ecosystem management. Case B is a watershed composed of several privately owned units that are managed at the site scale by decision-makers whose primary motivation is economic profit. The preferred management plan in both cases is determined using a two-stage procedure. The first stage uses a stochastic programming model to identify the most efficient management plans for a site/landscape. The second stage determines which efficient management plan for a site/landscape is preferred by maximizing an expected utility function that is additive in the attributes and assumes that the decision-maker is risk neutral.Whether a land-management plan results in strongly or weakly sustainable resource conditions is evaluated. Strong sustainability requires the probability of exceeding the minimum acceptable value of an attribute to be greater than or equal to a pre-determined reliability level for each attribute. Weak sustainability requires the same condition except that it applies to a composite index of the attributes rather than each attribute. Bayes theorem is used to evaluate uncertainty about whether the state of a landscape is sustainable.     

EFFECTWENESS OF INTEGRATED STORMWATER MANAGEMENT IN A PORTLAND,OREGON, WATERSHED1

ABSTRACT: The City of Portland's stormwater management program, winner of EPA's Environmental Excellence Award for 1996, is committed to partnership-based, cost-effective, “green” approaches to healthy neighborhoods and water quality. The stormwater program encourages innovative, non-structural pollution reduction techniques like native landscaping, stormwater pollution reduction bioswales and ponds, and public involvement and education. Effectiveness of stormwater best management practices (BMPs) has been difficult to determine on a citywide basis. Recognizing this problem, the City of Portland launched the Parkrose Pilot Project in 1994 to test the effectiveness of a wide range of BMPs in a small watershed in north Portland, the Parkrose catchment, and monitor the results prior to citywide implementation. This catchment was selected because of its small size (144 acres), its representative mix of land uses, and an extensive record of water quality monitoring data. This paper examines the City's strategy in selecting the Parkrose study area as a pilot watershed, the BMPs chosen for use in the watershed, and the results of the program to date. Final success of the Parkrose project will be gauged by the attainment of measurable pollution reduction within the catchment while providing opportunities for meaningful participation by the local community in achieving water quality. Involvement by private citizens in the community is crucial to the success of the project and to ensure compliance with the federal mandate to reduce pollutants to the maximum extent practicable.     

Are we planning for sustainable disaster recovery? Evaluating recovery plans after the Wenchuan earthquake

This article examines local recovery plans that were created in response to the Wenchuan earthquake and then suggests ways that planners can better apply the concept of sustainability to the recovery process. We utilize a plan evaluation protocol to analyze 16 recovery plans in counties and towns that were severely affected by the earthquake. We also conducted semi-structured interviews with public officials and planners, with the qualitative data gleaned from these interviews being used to supplement the plan quality assessment. The results reveal that local recovery plans do not appear to have incorporated sufficiently the concepts of sustainability. We conclude the paper with the following recommendations: emphasizing sustainability as a policy priority during vision and goal development; developing solid databases and planning techniques; designing a diversified set of regulatory- and incentive-based policy tools suitable for local governments; enhancing social and institutional learning; and further integrating multi-level and interagency governmental units.     

Visions and strategies for growth management: Teller County/Woodland Park example

This article is the third in a series prepared to explain the Teller County growth management planning process. Once it was determined by local decision-makers that Teller County, Colorado, would pursue a policy of directed growth, concepts based on this policy were developed. These concepts presented visions and options for the future. Landscape plans then were developed for Teller County and the City of Woodland Park planning area so that these options could be visualized by local leaders and the public. The landscape plans were used as part of the ongoing citizen involvement process to inform the public about the options for growth management. To provide even more information, detailed designs were developed for specific areas in the county. From the landscape plan, public involvement effort, and detailed designs, specific implementation measures were identified, discussed, and adopted. These measures included guidelines for administration, so that county and city goals could be linked to the actual day-to-day management of development proposals. Paper 3 in a series of 3.     

Moving from agenda to action: evaluating local climate change action plans

Climate change is conventionally recognised as a large-scale issue resolved through regional or national policy initiatives. However, little research has been done to directly evaluate local climate change action plans. This study examines 40 recently adopted local climate change action plans in the US and analyses how well they recognise the concepts of climate change and prepare for climate change mitigation and adaptation. The results indicate that local climate change action plans have a high level of ‘awareness’, moderate ‘analysis capabilities’ for climate change, and relatively limited ‘action approaches’ for climate change mitigation. The study also identifies specific factors influencing the quality of these local jurisdictional plans. Finally, it provides policy recommendations to improve planning for climate change at the local level.     

Stakeholder Analysis of a Collaborative Watershed Management Process: A Florida Case Study1

Borisova, Tatiana, Laila Racevskis, and Jennison Kipp, 2012. Stakeholder Analysis of a Collaborative Watershed Management Process: A Florida Case Study. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(2): 277‐296. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2011.00615.x Abstract: This study focuses on a Florida watershed where development of a total maximum daily load (TMDL) and its implementation plan resulted in conflicts among stakeholders. The overall goal is to build a better understanding of stakeholder perceptions of water quality problems, water policy processes and decisions, and water management plan development in a region where these issues have become contentious. Findings are based on a stakeholder analysis using qualitative data collected through focus groups with agricultural producers, local governments, and environmental groups, and supplemented with additional qualitative data on the watershed management process. Stakeholder conflicts in this case study are associated with perceived flaws in the structural and procedural characteristics of the stakeholder involvement process: (1) suboptimal watershed stakeholder representation on the TMDL executive committee, (2) an inappropriate voting procedure for making TMDL decisions, (3) limitations in information sharing between regulatory agencies and watershed stakeholders, and (4) stakeholders’ doubts about whether tradeoffs associated with achieving the water quality targets were assessed adequately throughout the TMDL planning and implementation process. This study contributes to the literature on collaborative watershed management by analyzing stakeholder involvement given Florida’s unique institutional settings, where implementation of TMDL pollution abatement is mandatory.     

Examining the Effects of Biodiversity on the Ability of Local Plans to Manage Ecological Systems

The protection of biological diversity (hereafter biodiversity) is considered one of the fundamental goals for the sustainable management of ecological systems. This paper examines how existing levels of biodiversity influence ecosystem capabilities at the local level. Specifically, it tests the effects of biodiversity and the degree of threat to biodiversity on the quality of local comprehensive plans in Florida as measured by the ability to manage ecosystems. Regression analysis indicates that high biodiversity does not stimulate planners to adopt higher quality plans. Instead, human disturbance or threats to existing levels of biodiversity are the most significant factors in driving ecosystem plan quality. Based on the results, the paper discusses implications for policy and suggests recommendations to improve proactive planning practices associated with managing ecological systems over the long term.     

What drives plan implementation? Plans,planning agencies and developers

This article investigates the determinants of plan implementation by applying a recently‐developed Plan Implementation Evaluation methodology. The lack of methodology to assess the implementation of plans has so far precluded any systematic analysis of the determinants of the implementation of local environmental plans. The article focuses on the implementation of plans in New Zealand. The key factors of implementation are: the quality of the plan; the capacity and commitment of land developers to implement plans; the capacity and commitment of the staff and leadership of planning agencies to implement plans; and the interactions between developers and the agency. The analysis is based on 353 permits implementing six local environmental plans in New Zealand, and on surveys of the developers who obtained the permits and of the planning agencies that granted the permits. The analysis finds that plan implementation is mainly driven by the resources of the planning agencies and by the quality of the plans, rather than by the characteristics of developers. Investments in plan writing and agency and staff capacity building thus improve the implementation of plans in the long‐run.     

Bioretention Design for Xeric Climates Based on Ecological Principles1

Abstract: Bioretention as sustainable urban stormwater management has gathered much recent attention, and implementation is expanding in mesic locations that receive more than 1,000 mm of annual precipitation. The arid southwestern United States is the fastest growing and most urbanized region in the country. Consequently, there is a need to establish design recommendations for bioretention to control stormwater from expanding urban development in this ecologically sensitive region. Therefore, we review the ecological limits and opportunities for designing bioretention in arid and semiarid regions. We incorporated USEPA Stormwater Management Model (SWMM) simulations to synthesize ecologically based design recommendations for bioretention in arid climates. From our review, an ideal bioretention garden area should be 6 to 8% of the contributing impervious drainage area (depending on region) with two layers of media, a 0.5‐m low‐nutrient topsoil layer above a 0.6‐m porous media layer that acts as temporary storage during a storm event. When planted with the suggested vegetation, this design maximizes stormwater treatment by promoting ecological treatment in the topsoil while promoting infiltration and evapotranspiration of stormwater by deep‐rooted shrubs that require no irrigation after establishment. This synthesis improves water resources management in arid and semiarid regions by introducing a sustainable bioretention design that protects local surface waters while reducing regional water demands for irrigation.     

Community energy plans in Canadian cities: success and barriers in implementation

Climate change and sustainable development concerns have motivated some municipalities in Canada to develop community energy plans, which focus on energy needs at the local level for the development of efficient, economical and environmental energy systems. Five Canadian cities that were early adopters of community energy planning principles were studied to assess whether implementation has occurred and what barriers have been experienced. The cities achieved success in the implementation of energy management in municipal operations despite barriers in jurisdiction, perception of cost, communication and capacity, but energy management in the community had not been fully implemented and long-term changes were not prevalent. While reductions were made in the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions produced by municipal operations, the community's overall GHG emissions were not significantly reduced. Long-term impacts on a city's function and growth will be key if community energy planning is to significantly impact community-wide GHG emissions and energy use.     

New Criteria for Sustainable Water Quality Management1

Abstract: New criteria, pollutant load of unit area (PLUA), are developed for sustainable water quality management, which not only avoids degrading water quality but also considers the equity of development between different generations. A simulation‐optimization model is established to determine PLUA, in which uses the QUAL2E model to simulate pollutant transport and formulates a linear programming model to optimize the objective of maximal loads (carrying capacity). Two watersheds, the Touchen creek and the Keya creek, both in Taiwan, are taken as case studies. The PLUA criterion is applied to several existing projects which have passed environmental impact assessment (EIA). The results show that if the Hsinchu Science‐Based Industrial Park discharges wastewater to the Touchen creek, the total pollutant discharge of 85.6 kg/day exceeds the allocated load. Consequently, a waste reduction of at least 23.4% is required. Although these existing projects have passed EIA, most of them violate the criterion of PLUA and thus contribute to continued degradation of water quality. This study suggests developing PLUA as a part of the process of strategic environmental assessment (SEA) for watershed management plans and then applying it to EIA as a criterion for new project assessment. Furthermore, if carrying capacities of all pollutant discharges and resource uses can be translated into loads per unit of area, an integrated sustainable watershed management plan can be developed.     

EMERGING STATE ROLES IN URBAN STORMWATER MANAGEMENT1

ABSTRACT: The technology of urban stormwater management has far outpaced its actual application in new urban development. This article documents that implementation gap, but shows that state and local governmental measures, particularly storm drainage regulations, can lead to improved performance in the private sector. Although state stormwater management programs are in their infancy, they are already having a measurable effect in stimulating the adoption of local governmental programs to manage urban storm water. Pioneering state programs in Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, described in this article, provide models for states contemplating the formulation of stormwater management programs.     

Multi-function Landscape Plans: a missing link in sustainability planning?

This paper argues that important issues of sustainable development have been addressed through single-issue landscape plans, and that these plans have carried little weight within the land use decision-making process. A more consolidated approach, based on multi-function landscape plans, is proposed. After reviewing the range of plans which, in the UK, cover woodland, farmscapes, visual amenity, coasts, catchments and biodiversity, the case is made for an integrative plan capable of addressing natural resource issues at the landscape scale. The preliminary character of an integrative plan is outlined. Whilst landscape plans have a relatively weak basis for implementation, it is concluded that a sufficient range of powers is available to ensure some progress.     

Impediments to Integrated Urban Stormwater Management: The Need for Institutional Reform

It is now well established that the traditional practice of urban stormwater management contributes to the degradation of receiving waterways, and this practice was more recently critiqued for facilitating the wastage of a valuable water resource. However, despite significant advances in alternative “integrated urban stormwater management” techniques and processes over the last 20 years, wide-scale implementation has been limited. This problem is indicative of broader institutional impediments that are beyond current concerns of strengthening technological and planning process expertise. Presented here is an analysis of the institutionalization of urban stormwater management across Sydney with the objective of scoping institutional impediments to more sustainable management approaches. The analysis reveals that the inertia with the public administration of urban stormwater inherently privileges and perpetuates traditional stormwater management practices at implementation. This inertia is characterized by historically entrained forms of technocratic institutional power and expertise, values and leadership, and structure and jurisdiction posing significant impediments to change and the realization of integrated urban stormwater management. These insights strongly point to the need for institutional change specifically directed at fostering horizontal integration of the various functions of the existing administrative regime. This would need to be underpinned with capacity-building interventions targeted at enabling a learning culture that values integration and participatory decision making. These insights also provide guideposts for assessing the institutional and capacity development needs for improving urban water management practices in other contexts.     

Benefit–Cost Analysis of StormwaterQuality Improvements

The major purpose of this paper is to explore the potential value of benefit–cost evaluation for stormwater quality management decisions at a local level. A preliminary benefit–cost analysis (BCA) screening method is used for maximum extent practicable (MEP) analysis, identifying promising management practices, and identifying societal and economic tradeoffs for local stormwater problems. Ballona Creek, a major urban storm drain in Los Angeles, California, USA, is used to illustrate the practicality of the benefit–cost evaluation. The Ballona Creek example demonstrates the economic limits of stormwater management in an urban region and attests to the value of coordinated basinwide management compared to uncoordinated management by individual landowners. Evaluation results suggest that in urban areas, the benefit of stormwater quality improvements might be far greater if accompanied by comprehensive redesign of drainage networks and neighboring land uses. In this case, benefit–cost analysis is found to be useful for evaluating and understanding stormwater management alternatives despite the uncertainties in characterizing stormwater quality and the effects of stormwater management on improving receiving water quality.