Director of Idaho Water Resource Research Institute to talk on creating the relationship between good science and informed policy
The Forum is pleased to announce John Tracy, Ph.D., Director of the Idaho Water Resource Research Institute (IWRRI), will be the luncheon keynote on the second day of the conference. Established in 1963, IWRRI performs water resources research activities that help to improve water resource management in Idaho, the Pacific Northwest region and the nation. The Institute is administered by the University of Idaho with its headquarters being on their Boise campus.
John will speak on “Creating the Relationship between Good Science and Informed Policy.” The topic fits the sweet spot of the Waters of the West initiative at the University of Idaho (UI). In simplistic terms, the emergent and current expertise of UI staff is applied across both physical and socio-economic disciplines to conduct integrated watershed analysis. A quick sampling of topics currently being addressed by UI researchers includes the development of groundwater flow models, understanding the potential effects of climate change on water resource systems, conjunctive management of surface and ground water rights, watershed management governance structures, aquifer recharge and water quality management.
Coming to IWRRI in 2004, John has lead this interdisciplinary approach based on similar leading edge experiences at the Desert Research Institute, which is the environmental research arm of the Nevada System of Higher Education. Said John, “In the 1990s there was a huge push to address “clarity” In Lake Tahoe, with the goal being able to see objects as deep as 100 feet below the lake surface. The only problem was that multiple environmental factors affect clarity and multiple jurisdictions have to manage a piece of the clarity puzzle.”
Sound familiar to water resource and water quality challenges facing the Coeur d’Alene-Spokane Corridor?
John will share lessons learned from his experience at DRI and IWRRI. For example, there is the need to tackle head on the roles and responsibilities of the research community. For Lake Tahoe, the universities worked with the Tahoe management agencies to create a research consortium that included the DRI, UC Davis, the University of Nevada Reno, and USGS. Together, they fully partnered with the jurisdictions in creating plans and seeking funding to address the challenge.
As partners, a number of things changed. Said John “First, we needed to educate all participants on the scientific reality that it would take at least fifty years to meet the basin’s environmental goals. And when it came time to seeking federal funding, we needed to agree to the whole package, not just particular components that would fund research activities. Some years that meant more funding for research, some years less. And it also meant we had to prioritize what research would be most valuable to meeting short and long term management goals.”
The equation between science and informed policy changed. “All sides now had a stake in creating trust based relationships and measuring success by the same standard of whether the long term goal was being met.”
But it’s important to note John’s perspective that some things didn’t and shouldn’t change. For the universities or technical consultants carrying out specific research, their service based relationship to carrying out the work remained. Quality assurance plans, peer review, etc. is the same. But now it was based on need prioritized by a larger research consortium partnered with jurisdictions, who also assess how best to use the results.
As John looks at IWRRI and UI’s commitment to our region, he sees ample opportunities for similar collaboration. “We have great respect for and partner with peers at WSU and WSU’s Water Research Center. And of course the USGS bi-state aquifer study was seminal for state, federal, and university partnering in this region. Combine that with additional local university and community college expertise and there’s tremendous opportunity to accomplish great things.”
“But,” emphasized John, “it starts with understanding relationships and the long term structure needed for good science to inform productive policy. That’s what I look forward to talking about.”