The Case of the Mactaquac Dam, Canada

The Case of the Mactaquac Dam, Canada

The role of ecosystem services in conflicts over potential dam removal – the case of the Mactaquac Dam, Canada By Kate Helen Reilly Department of Bioresource Engineering McGill University, Montreal Submitted April 2018 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ©Kate Reilly, 2018 1 ABSTRACT Dams across North America are coming to the end of their planned lifespans. Changing societal values and needs, safety concerns, and high maintenance costs are causing their removal to be increasingly considered. Both constructing and removing dams significantly change river ecology and hydrology, and therefore also the provision of ecosystem services. Such changes affect stakeholders differently, according to their needs, values and perceptions of ecosystem services. Understanding these differential impacts is important to ensure effective and equitable decision making, and as a basis for understanding and resolving any resulting conflict. The aims of this thesis, therefore, were to identify and analyse the social demand for ecosystem services, and analyse the extent to which social demand for ecosystem services underlies stakeholder conflict and how the concept of ecosystem services can be used for its resolution. A new conceptual framework was developed that linked ecosystem services to stakeholder responses to a decision-making process from a wider range of angles than has been studied to date. The framework focused on social demand for ecosystem services, as opposed to their biophysical provision or economic valuation, as the aspect most directly relevant to stakeholders and the least studied. Frame theory was used to systematically analyse stakeholders’ perceptions of the decision and how differences between them contribute to conflict. The strategic implications of how the decision was framed in terms of scale were explored using theory on the politics of scale. Place meanings were used to explore the emotional dimensions of the conflict. Such theories on stakeholder conflict have not been applied to the unique context of dam removal. The framework was used to explore the case of the Mactaquac Dam on the Saint John River, New Brunswick, Canada. At the time of study, a decision-making process was ongoing to determine whether to rebuild or remove it, triggered by problems in the dam’s structure. Study of dam removals to date has been limited to small dams – as a large dam, this was an important test case for other large dams approaching the end of their life. A qualitative approach was taken to allow an initial exploration of the full range of ecosystem services demanded and how they relate to conflict. Fifty stakeholders, selected using non- proportional quota sampling, participated across two research phases. They represented a range of interests and were located both up and downstream of the dam. In the first phase, semi- structured interviews were used to explore how stakeholders used the river and their opinions 2 on the future of the dam. In the second phase, participatory mapping was used to reveal the spatial distribution of ecosystem service demand and place meanings. Stakeholders demanded a range of ecosystem services in all categories of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005). Although there were few differences in the services demanded by those who preferred to retain the dam and those who preferred to remove it, there were clear differences in their uses of the same services and their spatial distribution. The combination of interviews and participatory mapping to elicit ecosystem service demand allowed potential conflicts of interest to be revealed in ways that would not have been possible using alternative quantitative approaches. Furthermore, participatory mapping was used for the first time to test whether stakeholders could map ecosystem services under future scenarios. Although few individuals could map the locations of ecosystem service change if the dam were removed, the maps served as useful prompts to uncover perceptions of change and its causes. Stakeholders’ interactions with the river through ecosystem services informed how they framed its current state and the decision-making process. Their frames showed loss aversion, as they were less willing to experience a loss than to give up a potential gain. Those in favour of removal framed the decision using spatial and temporal scales differently to those against, in ways that deemed certain arguments and stakeholders as being relevant to the decision and others irrelevant. The temporal scale was newly revealed as important in scale framing in this context. Stakeholders held numerous intangible place meanings, suggesting a strong connection to specific locations in and around the river, many of which were shared between the two groups and were linked to the biophysical characteristics of the river. Overall, the study found that a range of ecosystem services were highly important locally and would be affected differently if the dam were removed. Theories of stakeholder conflict revealed that the differing demand for services contributed to conflict development, but also suggested opportunities for its resolution. There was widespread agreement about the importance of ecosystem protection and many shared place meanings. Participatory approaches centred around ecological protection and shared place meanings have the potential to allow stakeholders to be heard, build trust, and potentially resolve conflict. 3 RESUME Plusieurs barrages nord-américains touchent à la fin de leur vie opérationnelle prévue. L'évolution des valeurs et besoins sociétaux, des préoccupations de sécurité, ainsi que les coûts de maintenance élevés encourage certains à préconiser le démantèlement de tels barrages. La construction et le démantèlement de barrages modifient à la fois l’écologie et l’hydrologie d’une rivière, et donc la prestation de services écosystémiques. De tels changements affectent chaque intervenant différemment selon ses besoins, valeurs et perceptions des services écosystémiques. Il est donc de mise de comprendre ces différents effets si l’on préconise une prise de décisions efficace et équitable, soutenu par une compréhension et une résolution de tout conflit. Les objectifs de cette thèse furent donc d’identifier et d’analyser la demande sociale pour les services écosystémiques, et d’analyser en quelle mesure cette demande sociale pour les services écosystémiques sous-tend les conflits entre intervenants, et en quelle mesure le concept de service écosystémique peut servir à leur résolution. Un nouveau cadre conceptuel d’une perspective plus large qu’utilisée auparavant fut développé, liant les services écosystémiques aux réponses des intervenants à un processus de prise de décision. Plutôt que l’apport biophysique ou l’évaluation économique des services écosystémiques, le cadre fut axé sur la demande sociale pour ces services, soit l’aspect le plus directement pertinent pour les intervenants, mais le moins étudié. Une théorie de l'encadrement permit une analyse systématique à la fois des perceptions des intervenants quant à leur décision et de leur contribution au conflit. Une exploration des implications stratégiques du cadrage de la décision au niveau de son échelle se fit dans le contexte des théories de la politique d’échelle. Les mérites donnés aux lieux permirent d’étudier les dimensions émotionnelles du conflit. Les théories de conflits entre intervenants n’ont, jusqu’à présent, jamais été appliquées dans le contexte du démantèlement de barrages. Ce cadre servit à sonder le cas du barrage Mactaquac sur le fleuve Saint-Jean au Nouveau- Brunswick, Canada. Lors de l’étude, un processus décisionnel, à savoir si le barrage serait rebâti ou démantelé, déclenché par des problèmes structuraux du barrage, était en cours. Jusqu’à présent l’étude du démantèlement des barrages s’est vue limitée aux petits barrages — celui-ci étant un grand barrage, il représenta un important cas type vu le grand nombre de grands barrages approchant la fin de leur vie opérationnelle. Une approche qualitative offre un survol initial de l’étendue complète des services écosystémiques en demande et de leur rapport au conflit. Sélectionnés par échantillonnage non- 4 probabiliste par quota, 50 intervenants participèrent aux deux phases de recherche. Issus d’en amont et d’en aval du barrage, ils étaient représentatifs d’un vaste éventail d'intérêts. Dans un premier volet, des entrevues semi-structurées servirent à étudier les utilisations de la rivière des intervenants, ainsi que leurs opinions quant à l’avenir du barrage. Dans un second volet, une cartographie participative servit à révéler la répartition spatiale des demandes en services écosystémiques et les mérites des lieux. Les intervenants ont exigé une large gamme de services écosystémiques dans toutes les catégories énumérées dans l'Évaluation des écosystèmes pour le millénaire (2005). Quoiqu’il n’y eût que très peu de différences dans les services demandés par ceux voulant garder le barrage et ceux préférant son démantèlement, des différences marquantes existaient entre leurs utilisations de ces services et la répartition spatiale de ceux-ci. La combinaison des entrevues et d’une cartographie participative afin de motiver une demande en services écosystémiques, permit de révéler les conflits d'intérêt éventuels d’une manière qui n’aurait pas été possible avec d’autres démarches quantitatives. L’habileté des intervenants à cartographier les services écosystémiques

View Full Text

Details

  • File Type
    pdf
  • Upload Time
    -
  • Content Languages
    English
  • Upload User
    Anonymous/Not logged-in
  • File Pages
    261 Page
  • File Size
    -

Download

Channel Download Status
Express Download Enable

Copyright

We respect the copyrights and intellectual property rights of all users. All uploaded documents are either original works of the uploader or authorized works of the rightful owners.

  • Not to be reproduced or distributed without explicit permission.
  • Not used for commercial purposes outside of approved use cases.
  • Not used to infringe on the rights of the original creators.
  • If you believe any content infringes your copyright, please contact us immediately.

Support

For help with questions, suggestions, or problems, please contact us