(University of Oregon, 2018-09-06) Bonini, Alyssa; Tippett, Elizabeth
This thesis examines place-based water resources planning in Oregon’s Malheur Lake Basin and analyzes the extent to which pluralistic governance has the capacity to transform conflict in groundwater governance regimes. It provides a qualitative analysis of current literature on groundwater governance and uses process tracing to extract best practices from three case studies to identify best practices in pluralistic groundwater governance specifically as they apply to the Malheur Lake Basin. Findings suggest that in addition to a pluralistic governance structure composed of community-based processes and state-based enforcement mechanisms, conflict transformation is the most appropriate lens through which to address groundwater conflicts and disputes and should be an integral component of groundwater governance structures.
