An Examination of Coordinated Recovery Efforts for the Oswego River Area of Concern
Open AccessFor centuries, the Great Lakes of North America have been regarded as a prime freshwater resource, a national treasure, and a geological masterpiece. As human development and anthropogenic resource needs expanded throughout the 20th century, the water bodies within the Great Lakes basin suffered severe pollution damages. One of the responses to this extended pollution was the designation of forty-three Areas of Concern (AOCs), which are sites of concentrated pollution that exhibit one or more water quality impairments. In an effort to recover these areas from over a century's worth of point and non-point source pollution damages, multiple levels of the US and Canadian governments collaborated with stakeholders from environmental organizations and local communities to devise recovery plans that were tailored to meet the specific needs of each Area of Concern. After 25 years of implementing these recovery plans and working towards the restoration of these water bodies, only four out of a total of forty-three AOCs are considered recovered. This thesis examines this process for the only de-listed US Area of Concern, the Oswego River. Specifically, interview data from three participants in this process are utilized to illuminate how members of that RAC managed to coordinate this achievement. The results of this study identify some of the best practices in this RAC's approach to handling the AOC recovery process, such as manageable goal setting, defining specific endpoints and targets for benchmarking success, and incorporating a high level of involvement from local organizations and authorities. The results also display areas of weakness, such as difficulty reconciling conflicting viewpoints to reach a workable solution, some inefficiencies within the chosen processes and methodologies, and a lack of strategic public involvement. From a broader perspective, this study provides valuable insight into the dynamics of coordinating such an extensive process, and highlights important lessons that can be learned from this RAC's experience that can be used to the benefit of other recovery teams.
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