University of Vermont ScholarWorks @ UVM Graduate College Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 2019 Governing Water Quality Limits In Agricultural Watersheds Courtney Ryder Hammond Wagner University of Vermont Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis Part of the Agriculture Commons, Place and Environment Commons, and the Water Resource Management Commons Recommended Citation Hammond Wagner, Courtney Ryder, "Governing Water Quality Limits In Agricultural Watersheds" (2019). Graduate College Dissertations and Theses. 1062. https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/graddis/1062 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Dissertations and Theses at ScholarWorks @ UVM. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate College Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ UVM. For more information, please contact [email protected]. GOVERNING WATER QUALITY LIMITS IN AGRICULTURAL WATERSHEDS A Dissertation Presented by Courtney R. Hammond Wagner to The Faculty of the Graduate College of The University of Vermont In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Specializing in Natural Resources May, 2019 Defense Date: March 22, 2019 Dissertation Examination Committee: William ‘Breck’ Bowden, Ph.D., Co-Advisor Asim Zia, Ph.D., Co-Advisor Meredith T. Niles, Ph.D., Chairperson Suzie Greenhalgh, Ph.D. Brendan Fisher, Ph.D. Eric D. Roy, Ph.D. Cynthia J. Forehand, Ph.D., Dean of the Graduate College © Copyright by Courtney R. Hammond Wagner May, 2019 ABSTRACT The diffuse runoff of agricultural nutrients, also called agricultural nonpoint source pollution (NPS), is a widespread threat to freshwater resources. Despite decades of research into the processes of eutrophication and agricultural nutrient management, social, economic, and political barriers have slowed progress towards improving water quality. A critical challenge to managing agricultural NPS pollution is motivating landowners to act against their individual farm production incentives in response to distant ecological impacts. The complexity of governing the social-ecological system requires improved understanding of how policy shapes farmer behavior to improve the state of water quality. This dissertation contributes both theoretically and empirically to NPS pollution governance by examining the impacts of water quality policy design on farmer nutrient management decision making and behavior. In the first study, I theoretically contextualize the issue of agricultural NPS pollution in the broader discussion of environmental public goods dilemmas to suggest that an increased focus on the link between policy and behavior can improve sustainable resource management. I propose two empirical approaches to study the policy-behavior link in environmental public goods dilemmas: 1) explicit incorporation of social psychological and behavioral variables and 2) utilization of actor mental models, or perceptions of the world that guide decision making, to identify behavioral drivers and outcomes. In the second and third studies, I then use these approaches to examine how water quality policies for agricultural NPS collectively change farmer behavior to reduce nutrient emissions. The second chapter uses a quantitative, survey-based approach to examine the relationship between mandatory policy design and behavior change in New Zealand. I find that a shift to mandatory policy is not immediately associated with increased adoption of nutrient management practices, but the mandatory policy design is important for potential future behavior change and long-term policy support. In the third study, I combine qualitative methodology with network analysis of qualitative data to examine a spectrum of agricultural NPS pollution policies in Vermont, USA and Taupo and Rotorua, New Zealand. I use farmer mental models to examine behavior change within each of the regions, the perceived drivers of behavior change and perceived outcomes of the policy. In this study, farmers across all three regions cite mandatory water policy as a key behavioral driver, but in each region, policy design interacts with the social-ecological context to produce distinct patterns of behaviors and perceived outcomes. Taken together, this dissertation demonstrates that agricultural NPS pollution policy design must consider the interactions between policy and other social-ecological behavioral drivers in order to achieve long term water quality improvements. CITATIONS Material from this dissertation has been submitted for publication to Complexity, Governance & Networks on June 30, 2018 in the following form: Hammond Wagner, C.R.. Strengthening the institution-behavior link in the SES Framework to facilitate comparative analysis of environmental public goods dilemmas. Complexity, Governance & Networks. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am incredibly grateful to the family, friends, mentors and colleagues who have supported me in the journey of this dissertation. First to my advisors and committee members for challenging me, giving me the space to flounder through the difficult questions, and always being available to give guidance when asked. To the Gund Institute, and in particular Gund graduate students, thank you for being such inspiring, interesting, supportive and fun community. I’m so impressed with the quality of work from graduate students at the Gund and working with each of you has truly pushed me to be a better researcher and person. To the farmers in Vermont and New Zealand who open their doors to me, I am so grateful for your hospitality and kindness. Thank you for the opportunity to learn from your experience and share your experience with others. To my parents, who have asked me, consistently for five years what my dissertation is about, I’m so happy to finally share this with you so that you can explain to your friends what your daughter has been doing. Thank you, as always, for your love and unwavering support. iii To Whitney, what would this be without you? Thank you for clearly defining my priorities and bringing out the best in me. Finally, to Andrew, thank you for keeping me grounded, making me laugh, driving me around the New Zealand countryside, making us dinners, picking our son up from daycare and the countless other things you have done through these five years to get us here. I am forever grateful. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .........................................................................................III LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... VI LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................... VII CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................1 1.1. Problem Description .......................................................................................................................... 1 1.2. Theoretical Background .................................................................................................................... 3 1.3. Dissertation Overview ....................................................................................................................... 7 1.4. References ....................................................................................................................................... 10 CHAPTER 2: STRENGTHENING THE INSTITUTION-BEHAVIOR LINK IN THE SES FRAMEWORK TO FACILITATE ANALYSIS OF ENVIRONMENTAL PUBLIC GOODS DILEMMAS...............................................15 2.1. Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 15 2.2 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 16 2.3. SES Framework Vision & Constraints ............................................................................................ 19 2.4. Environmental Public Goods Dilemmas ......................................................................................... 21 2.5. Examining Diverse Institutions to Motivate Collective Action ....................................................... 27 2.6. Expanding the Institutional-Behavior Link ..................................................................................... 30 2.7. Incorporating the Institutional-Behavior Link into the SES ............................................................ 39 2.8. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 45 2.9. Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... 46 2.10. References ..................................................................................................................................... 46 v CHAPTER 3: FROM WATERSHED LIMITS TO FARM-SCALE DECISIONS: THE IMPACT OF MANDATORY WATER QUALITY POLICY ON FARM MANAGEMENT BEHAVIOR AND DECISION MAKING ....................................52 3.1. Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 52 3.2. Introduction ....................................................................................................................................