Benson, Melinda Harm --- "Adaptive Management as a Tool for Negotiating the Water–Energy Nexus" [2011] ELECD 1032; in Kenney, S. Douglas; Wilkinson, Robert (eds), "The Water–Energy Nexus in the American West" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2011)

Book Title: The Water–Energy Nexus in the American West

Editor(s): Kenney, S. Douglas; Wilkinson, Robert

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781849809368

Section: Chapter 13

Section Title: Adaptive Management as a Tool for Negotiating the Water–Energy Nexus

Author(s): Benson, Melinda Harm

Number of pages: 13

Extract:

13. Adaptive management as a tool for
negotiating the water­energy nexus
Melinda Harm Benson1

13.1. INTRODUCTION

Adaptive management (AM) is an innovative approach that is gaining
influence with natural resource managers because it integrates scien-
tific investigations into management actions involving natural systems.
This is a particularly valuable strategy in situations where the poten-
tial ecological impact of a management activity is largely unknown.
Uncertainty is common in many situations involving the development
of energy resources on public lands. A prominent example is coalbed
methane (CBM) development in Wyoming's Powder River Basin (the
Basin) (discussed in Chapter 5 by MacDonnell and Guerra). In order to
extract methane gas from underground coal seams, millions of gallons
of water are discharged onto the surface on a daily basis. The long-term
impact of these discharges on water supply, vegetation and wildlife is
largely unknown and has been the subject of great controversy in the
Basin.
This chapter examines the potential for AM to balance the need for
energy development with overarching environmental concerns, using
CBM development in the Basin as an example. The US Department
of Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is the primary
mineral manager in the Basin. In March 2007, all bureaus within the
Department were ordered to utilize AM whenever possible. After a
brief definition of AM and an examination of the Department's techni-
cal guidance regarding when AM should be used, this chapter examines
CBM development in the Basin to see whether ...