ISTPP Director, Dr. Kent Portney, presented a paper he coauthored with Dr. Bryce Hannibal and Dr. Robert Greer on whether governance decision-making processes regarding food, energy, and water resources are fragmented. Additionally, the authors wanted to know if theories related to public policy and management suggest breaking down these supposed fragmented processes would make any difference.
The data used for this analysis comes from a survey of water managers and decision makers in the San Antonio, TX, region. The survey measures the level of interaction among decision makers across sectors of the food-energy-water nexus. In addition, the survey enables the researchers to learn more about the respondents’ roles and responsibilities in relation to water.
Results from the survey of water agencies suggest there is little interaction in decision-making processes among agencies involved with food and energy. The authors highlight that there is no legal responsibility for water decision makers to collaborate or communicate with other resource governance entities. Drs. Portney, Greer, and Hannibal conclude their paper by mentioning they want to distribute surveys to decision makers and agency managers in the energy and agriculture sectors of the food-energy-water nexus.
Portney, Kent E. 2019. “What’s Theory Got to Do with It? Institutional Collective Action and Governance of the Food-Energy-Water Nexus in the Metropolitan San Antonio Region.” Paper presented at the 3rd Annual Local Governance and Sustainability Conference within Conference at the Meeting of the Southern Political Science Association, Austin, TX, January 22. Coauthored with Rob A. Greer and Bryce Hannibal.
