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Executive Summary: Great Rivers Partnership June 2010
Introduction Established in 2005, the Great Rivers Partnership (GRP) has contributed to the conservation and sustainable development of great rivers on four continents. GRP is acknowledged for: 1) calling attention to the plight of the world’s great rivers; 2) leveraging Mississippi River best practices as a global case study; 3) promoting and demonstrating a systems approach to river management; and 4) engaging diverse partners – including governmental and non-‐governmental organizations, and various business sectors – in a sustainability agenda. Following the positive outcomes of the GRP in its first generation, donors challenged The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and other partners to enhance the GRP through a second generation of this effort. The GRP has recognition, relationships and partnerships in place at many levels, and is poised to accomplish much more. The concept of “integrated river basin management” quickly emerged as the seminal issue for the Mississippi River and other great rivers. This can be defined as the process of coordinating conservation, management and development of water, land and related resources across sectors within a given river basin, in order to optimize the economic and social benefits derived from water resources in an equitable manner while preserving and, where necessary, restoring freshwater ecosystems (adapted from Global Water Partnership, 2000). Mission and Strategy The next evolution of the GRP is designed to further advance the sustainable management of the Mississippi River system, and share knowledge and expertise to inform sustainable management of great rivers around the world for future generations. Strategies include: 1) convening diverse interests as an honest broker to synthesize stakeholder perspectives with best science and practice to support a shared vision, and actionable programs, policies, and partnerships; 2) acting as a solutions provider and innovator in cooperation with a global network of expertise to help inform and solve the most critical management challenges, through projects that demonstrate a systems approach using science-‐based adaptive management; and 3) communicating as a unified expert voice on pertinent issues so as to build an informed constituency for the Mississippi River system and great rivers worldwide. The immediate (next 18 months) focus is to 1) establish lead partnerships; 2) convene and engage stakeholders to build recognition for the organization, with a focus on development and application of economic and science-‐based programs, policies, partnerships and funding that significantly effect integrated, sustainable management of the Mississippi River system; and 3) continue to share the Mississippi River ”case study” with great river managers worldwide.
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Operations and Execution GRP will be led by a board and designed to operate with a small but highly networked staff. Board member qualifications include: 1) ability to advance the GRP vision and provide strategic counsel from multiple stakeholder perspectives; and 2) ability to secure the financial resources and partnerships necessary to successfully implement the GRP vision. The board will charter a Science, Economic, and Policy Advisory Committee (SEPAC) to establish GRP annual agendas and build partner institution networks. As the GRP moves beyond incubation and into action the board will have international representation, supporting a global reach. An immediate need is to establish an organizing board, composed of potential founding board members, to assist in the organization’s final design. These discussions will take place during an incubation period not lasting longer than 18 months. During this period, the GRP remains within TNC, and the current staff of the GRP-‐Mississippi River will align to accomplish immediate needs. Beyond 18 months, there are two major decisions for the board and leadership teams to finalize: Option 1) TNC retains the GRP, but manages it as a joint venture with partners and board members or 2) the GRP becomes an independent 501c3 organization, perhaps functioning as a secretariat, with TNC and other partners providing strategic contributions consistent with their missions. Scope of Work The potential scope of work for the GRP is enormous. So it is imperative that the GRP staff and board focus on a suite of high profile, high impact opportunities that are best able to advance large river systems management and demonstrate organizational competency. The GRP scope of work focuses around three key areas:
1) Integrated river basin management; 2) Proof-‐of-‐concept projects that inform policy; 3) The exchange of information within the Mississippi
River system and with other great rivers globally.
Some immediate examples (and timeframes) include:
Mississippi River: 1) Design process for developing collaborative
integrated river management strategy at system scale, with the USACE and the Meridian Institute (2010);
2) Pilot research on floodplain ecosystem services, with TNC-‐IL, TNC-‐LA, TNC-‐AR and SIU (2010-‐12);
3) Develop partnerships with leading agricultural corporations, and create sustainability indicators
DRAFT Case Statement
We can think about the Mississippi River in sophisticated ways because of unequaled investments in knowledge made over two centuries by many organizations and individuals – from Lewis and Clark to the USGS Long-Term Resource Monitoring Program and a variety of universities. Yet often the Mississippi remains an “orphan” – information is fragmented, programs and projects disconnected (Source: National Research Council). So to sustain the Mississippi River, we must get past isolated agendas and address the major issues of our day – food, water, climate, energy, transportation – through collaboration. The Great Rivers Partnership is focused on building an enduring, future-oriented systems approach that engages all perspectives in adaptive, sustainable management of the Mississippi River, and fosters an inter-generational commitment to implementation.
At the same time, we can benefit by understanding our issues from a global perspective and learning from others managing great river systems, addressing similar issues. The Mississippi River system has been a birthplace for technology that has spawned agriculture, transportation, and water resource development and management around the world. For this reason, the Great Rivers Partnership will also focus on the need to share knowledge and provide global leadership in the management of large working rivers because, in the words of Paul Keddy and other leading river scientists: “each of the world’s largest [rivers] requires a basin-wide sustainable management strategy, built on new institutional frameworks … that accurately reflects the inescapable linkages of economy and human well-being to … ecosystem sustainability.”
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for agricultural landscapes as part of Field to Market (2010-‐2011); 4) Influence development of river-‐floodplain and coastal management policies and programs – such as
NESP, EMP, LMRAA, LCA – and support proof-‐of-‐concept projects that inform policies and programs to address floodplain function in the Mississippi River system, e.g., Emiquon, Spunky Bottoms, Mollicy (2010-‐2012);
5) Support proof-‐of-‐concept projects that inform polices and programs to address sediments and nutrients in the Mississippi River system, e.g., USDA Mississippi River Basin Initiative for nutrients (2010-‐2012);
6) Create function-‐process models as scientific tools for the prioritization of projects within the Mississippi River system, providing agencies and non-‐governmental organizations a way to connect to long-‐term goals and address the key ecological processes and attributes of the river system, particularly the water quality, sediment and hydrological regimes, and the amount of functional riverine and wetland habitat that is effectively conserved (2010);
7) Begin to develop a global network of experts to connect with stakeholders and inform key sustainability topics related to Mississippi and other great rivers, such as hydro-‐engineering and infrastructure for navigation and floodplain management, large river monitoring and adaptive management, sustainable agriculture and watersheds, water and human health (2010-‐2011).
Other Great Rivers: 8) Share best practices for monitoring river health and supporting adaptive management on the
Yangtze River (China), and explore additional areas for exchange, e.g., Amur, Pearl, Yellow, and Mekong rivers (all which are within or flow from China), with USACE and USGS (2010);
9) Advise Cormagdalena, the management agency for Magdalena River, on creation of integrated river basin management plan for Magdalena River (Colombia), with USACE (2010-‐2011);
10) Support sharing of best practices for integrated river basin management and governance between Mississippi River Commission and Mekong River Commission, with USACE, and explore similar opportunities on other great rivers (2010-‐2012).
There are many activities the GRP will not undertake. For example, it will not conduct its own scientific research, nor will it work independently to implement projects on the ground, e.g., buying or managing land. Nonetheless, it will recognize and support the need for strategic research by our academic partners, and engage with public and private partners – including TNC’s state and country programs – in the implementation of the policies and programs needed for sustainability. Partners Our conversations with several hundred leading thinkers who understand the forces that threaten the long term viability of the Mississippi River and other great rivers around the world – including scientists, government officials, policy makers, business and non-‐governmental leaders – lead us to believe that there is great interest in joining Caterpillar and TNC in this endeavor. We have assessed the market in this same manner to test uniqueness and avoid redundancy in our approach. The GRP Opportunity The design of this second generation of the Great Rivers Partnership is intended to build a shared vision for an economically and ecologically sustainable future, and leave an enduring legacy of effective integrated river management on the Mississippi River and other great rivers for future generations. The strategy builds on our core strengths, facilitates a deeper engagement of partners and stakeholders through a stronger joint venture concept, and enhances our ability to advance projects with systemic and global relevance.
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