An Assessment of Public Participation in the South Central Texas Regional Water Planning Group

Abstract

The purpose of this research is fourfold: (1) to establish an ideal system to involve citizens in water resources planning, (2) to use the model system to assess the citizen participation program in the South Central Texas Regional Water Planning Group, (3) to offer suggestions for improvements to the process, and (4) to make suggestions for future research that could increase the effectiveness of citizen participation in the South Central Texas Regional Water Planning Group and in the Regional Water Planning process as a whole. This research is a case study that uses the methods of document analysis and focused interviews to assess public participation in the South Central Texas Regional Water Planning Group against the ideal model. The results indicate that there are some gaps in the public participation efforts of the South Central Texas Regional Water Planning Group when compared to the ideal model. With modifications, however, a system can be designed that is both measurable and, hopefully, successful.