The overall purpose of this research is to assess the Oregon public's capacity to address water resources disturbances through civil society. According to scientists and resource managers, Oregon's water resources are over taxed and at risk, with future projections placing additional stress from climate change and population growth. Oregon's 2009 House Bill 3369 directed the Oregon Water Resources Department to develop a statewide Integrated Water Resource Strategy (IWRS) to address these challenges and meet current and future water needs. Prior to IWRS' implementation it is important to understand if the Oregon public has the capacity to understand and respond to disturbances in water resources as the inability to respond can undermine the state's IWRS implementation. For this study a "disturbance" is a change in Oregon's water quantity, quality and or availability. The ability to respond to a disturbance by the public is associated with the concept of civil society. Civil society is a method where members of Oregon's public can understand and engage in water resource issues in Oregon and has three key components: (a) being informed about a policy issue; (b) interacting with others about the issue; and (c) engaging in a practice to make a policy change. Yet, even with the conditions in place for a civil society response to a disturbance, management implementation can be inhibited due to low knowledge and inaccurate risk perception. Using a statewide mail survey to 1,563 randomly selected households, this study examined the Oregon public's dimensions of civil society, knowledge, and risk perception concerning Oregon's water resources. Findings suggest the public has the dimensions of civil society in place to respond to a disturbance in Oregon's water resources, as well as sufficient risk perception. However, the public's level of factual and self-assessed knowledge is less than optimal. This low level of knowledge has the potential to inhibit or limit water resource management efforts by the state.

"This Discussion Paper examines regional or local water planning approaches from three western states -- California's Integrated Regional Water Management, Texas' Regional Water Planning Program, and Washington's Watershed Planning process. The purpose of this paper is to highlight several key planning elements that could inform Oregon's approach to place-based, integrated water resources planning. Several questions are posed throughout the document, and serve as a starting point for discussion with stakeholders and the public. The state's objective is to develop guidelines that can facilitate place-based planning efforts within Oregon communities, with the ultimate goal of meeting current and future water needs -- instream and out-of-stream, including water quantity, water quality, and ecosystem needs"--Page 2.

Integrated Water Resource Planning provides practical, evidence-based guidance on water resource planning. In a time of heightened awareness of ecosystem needs, climate change, and increasing and conflicting demands on resources, water professionals and decision-makers around the world are on a steep learning curve. This book presents an international examination of water reform experiences, and provides lessons in how to manage environmental uncertainties, long term management, and increase in demand. It breaks the process down into a series of common steps, applies program logic and evaluation theory, and discusses best practices in assessment, decision making and community engagement. Importantly it recognises the large variation in available knowledge and capacity, risk and scale, and discusses a range of approaches that can be used for different circumstances. The book will fill in the gaps for professionals in interdisciplinary teams including sociologists, hydrologists, engineers, ecologists, and community consultation specialists, by providing a basic grounding in areas outside their usual expertise, and will provide ammunition to community stakeholders in their quest to ensure that water planning outcomes are justified and justifiable. Case studies provide an understanding of the context, practical tools and implementation techniques for achieving sustainable outcomes, and the multi-disciplinary approach and insights offered in this book will be transposable and instructive for water professionals worldwide.