Thus, the water management system in this large river basin has adjusted to multi‐decade trends of declining inflows, but vulnerability, that is, the potential for excess releases in spring and shortfalls in summer, has increased. For a given level of reliability (the fraction of time flow targets were met), vulnerability (the maximum departure from the flow target) was greater during periods with lower than average inflows. Reservoirs have increased hedging, that is, they have stored more water during the spring, in order to meet the widening gap between inflows and outflows during the summer low flow period. Average inflows to reservoirs in the low flow period exceeded outflows in the1950s, but inflows are now less than outflows. Reservoir inflows increased slightly in early spring and declined in late spring to early fall, but reservoir outflows increased in late summer from 1950 to 2012. Using publicly available data, this study quantified how the intra‐annual timing of inflows and outflows of 25 major reservoirs has shifted, how management has responded, and how this has influenced reliability and vulnerability of the water resource system in the 668,000 km² Columbia River basin from 1950 to 2012. Streamflow records for unregulated rivers upstream of reservoirs can be combined with records downstream of reservoirs using a paired‐watershed framework and concepts of water resource system performance to assess how reservoir management has responded to long‐term change. We conclude by discussing next steps for systematically gauging appreciation for WSRs among segments of the public, expanding understandings of the unique benefits associated with WSR designation, and further development of agency-public partnership templates surrounding designated river management.Īround the world, long‐term changes in the timing and magnitude of streamflow are testing the ability of large managed water resource systems constructed in the 20th century to continue to meet objectives in the 21st century. Qualitative results illuminate the importance of public partnerships in garnering political support for additional WSR management resources, key needs for manager exchanges or mentorship programs given the retirement of experienced WSR professionals, and the importance of organized, but varied private partnerships in planning or management of rivers across different regions of the United States. Results indicate that a continued lack of public understanding or support for Wild and Scenic Rivers (WSRs), a need for dedicated agency funds to manage rivers once designated, and additional guidance about flexibly interpreting WSRA provisions as highly prioritized barriers or future actions. ![]() Our approach consisted of a national sample and replicates a similar effort conducted in concert with the 30th anniversary of the WSRA, providing a unique longitudinal perspective. We also explore the role of public-private partnerships in continued management of protected rivers. The research presented here used a mixed-method approach consisting of quantitative rankings and interviews to explore river manager and partner perspectives about the most pressing management actions and barriers for continued river management under the WSRA in concert with the 50th anniversary of the Act. ![]() Yet more than 50 years after its passage, there is little research exploring management of resources under the Act, including across agencies or private partners managing protected rivers. The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (WSRA) provides a high level of protection for free flowing rivers in the United States. Understanding how the influences above continue to affect resource management surrounding Wild and Scenic Rivers (WSRs), and how agency professionals are responding to such challenges, are important mechanisms for adapting management to new realities while meeting the policy requirements of the WSRA. ![]() Much has changed in the management of public lands since 1968, including reductions in budgets for agencies managing public lands, shifts in societal values or public infrastructure needs, expansion or new roles for public involvement in collaborative management of protected areas, and a focus on landscape-level management priorities, including the impact of climate change (Clarke & McCool, 1996 Feldman et al., 2005 Daniels & Walker, 2001 Lurie & Hibbard, 2008 Hamlet, 2011 Archie et al., 2012 Weber & Stevenson, 2017). Yet nearly a generation after its passage, the WSRA remains relatively unstudied in terms of how managers interpret and implement its provisions as part of larger resource management, especially in comparison to other preservation-era legislation such as the Wilderness Act (Chesterton & Watson, 2017 Perry, 2017a Bowker & Bergstrom, 2017).
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