# Presentation: 110461

## Understanding Sustainability at the State Level

- John R. Wells
- Minnesota Environmental Quality Board
*Allocating Water: Economics and the Environment*
- July 22, 2004

## Sustainable development is ...

- Thinking & acting as if the long-term future mattered
- Recognizing how things connect
- Living within our means
- Taking creative approaches to issues

## The Governor’s Vision

- Keep Minnesota’s waters clean
- Ensure communities have safe water
- Keep an accurate picture
- Restore the casualties of society’s great progress
- Develop effective leadership on water

## The Governor’s Clean Water Initiative 

**Clean Water **_**Cabinet Vision**_

**Guiding **_**Principles**_

_**Action Areas **_

_**Goals**_

_**Projects**_

- July 1, 2004

- Metro Mississippi
- River

- Southeast
- Minnesota

- Executive Policies
- and Processes

- Reduce phosphorus loadings from
- Lambert Creek and phosphorus
- concentrations in Vadnais Lake

- Provide effective tools and incentives
- to protect WQ and
- sensitive natural resources

- Reduce levels of harmful bacteria

- Demonstrate the value of regional water
- supply planning and coordination;
- providing an inter-connected system

- Reduce sediment loading
- to rivers and streams

- Reduce harmful bacteria and other
- pathogens entering rivers and
- streams to acceptable levels

- Coordinate/target deliver of farm
- programs to cost effectively
- remediate pollution sources

- Align budget related processes
- and priorities
- with Governor’s Clean Water Vision

- South Branch,
- Root River

- Lambert Lake Wetland Restoration

- Twin Cities Sub-Regional Water Supply Plan

- Red River Valley

- Reduce flood damage to
- cropland and structures

- Grand Marais Flood Reduction

- Manston Slough Flood Control

- Reduce sediment loading to
- Red River of the North

- Enhance fish and wildlife habitat

- Central Minnesota
- Lakes Area

- Five county lakes area coordination

- Coordinate lake management

- Revise shoreland rule

## Water & sustainability

- Growth & water
- Jobs
- Budget priorities

## Projected population growth

- By 2010
- Rates (%)
- White ... -8 to 0
- Gray   ...  0 to 5
- Black  ...  5 to 13
- Blue    ... 13-37

**in Minnesota’s Growth Corridor**

## A framework for decisions

- Convene corridor stakeholders
- Identify trends, plans and goals and develop growth scenarios
- Understand long-term regional implications of water and land use
- Bring people together to change local and state policy

## Job Opportunity Building Zones 

**To stimulate economic development activity in rural Minnesota by providing local and state tax exemptions**

## Slide 10

## Slide 11

## Slide 12

## Rochester Water Supply Area

- Karst

- Decorah Edge

- Rochester Water Supply Recharge Area

## Developments on the Decorah Edge

**Northern**** ****Heights**

**Country Club**
** ****Manor**.

**Assissi Heights**

**Pill**** ****Hill**

**Follwell Heights**

**Willow Heights**

**Golden**** ****Hill**

**Rose**** ****Harbor**.

## Groundwater Flow Direction

- Northern Hills Court

- Decorah Shale

## Water Being Pumped To The Storm Sewer From The Basement Of A Home Located On The Decorah Edge

## Goals of a Decorah EdgeRecharge Area Ordinance

- Preserve the intact recharge areas
- Improve recharge quality and quantity

## 10 Year Water GapsBy Resource ($ Millions)

## Funding-related principles

- No new General Fund expenditures without savings
- Each agency must find savings, but the cabinet will act collectively
- New fee revenues may be proposed when the fee would:
- Ask polluters and resource users to pay for the benefits they receive
- Not place an undue burden on those who would pay the fee
- No new taxes

## Sustainable development is ...

- Thinking & acting as if the long-term future mattered
- Recognizing how things connect
- Living within our means
- Taking creative approaches to issues

## National Sustainable Water Resources Roundtable

**Understanding if we’re on the right track**

## The General Systems Perspective

*“**Natural Systems”*

*Social System*

*Biosphere*

*Economic*
*System*

**Notes:**
This diagram uses set theory concepts to display the relationships among the three major systems encompassed by the concept of sustainability. The biosphere includes all living things on Earth and the non-living systems with which they interact and on which they depend. The Social System is within the Biosphere and includes all the human elements of the Biosphere. “Natural Systems” are thus the non-human elements of the Biosphere. The scare quotes show our recognition that humans a part of nature, not apart from nature.

## Community Water Supply Example of the Systems Perspective

**Hydrologic**
**and      Climatologic**
**Systems**

*Social System*

*Biosphere*

*Economic*
*System*

**Social Systems **
**For Managing **
**Water Supply**

**Economic Systems **
**For Water **
**Supply**

## SWRR Process for Identifying Criteria and Indicators

**   ****Criteria**

**Identify Valued Forms of Capital**

**Identify Components of Capital**
**And Processes Affecting Them**

**Identify Measurable Phenomena**

**Systems Concepts**

**Information Concepts**

**Notes:**
This slide is still in development but the idea is to use the third notion of criteria, linking the idea of criteria to a set of general categories of capital. Such a set of criteria would be similar to those used in the Forest and Rangeland C&I sets. Indicators could be selected for each criterion using systems models to identify and represent the important components for each category of capital and the processes that affect them. 

## Possible Types of  Indicators

**Stressors &**
**Investments**

**Underlying**
**Processes**

**Outputs**

**Effects**

**Capital**

**Indicators**

**Goal: Sustainability of Water Resources**

**Criterion**

**Criterion**

**Criterion**

**Criterion**

**Criterion**

**Notes:**
This slide illustrates the relationship between the overall goal, a set of criteria, and the various components and processes that can be targets for indicators. Each criterion corresponds to a category of capital. Once we have identified the various categories of capital that are relevant to sustainable water resources management, we can use our knowledge of systems to identify indicators. This slide uses systems concepts to show the various targets that indicators could address for each criterion.

The underlying processes occur in and between the three systems. The horizontal sequence represents the processes that can affect capital. They are driven by underlying processes that give rise to stressors and investments that can decrease or increase the forms of capital related to the criterion. Indicators that address Underlying Processes, Stressors and Investments and the capacity of the capital can be used for sustainability assessment and diagnosis.

The Underlying Processes of primary interest are those that yield outputs of goods, services, or experiences that humans value. Theses outputs have effects on human health and well-being, both beneficial and damaging. They may also have effects on other living things.

We have not shown Outputs and Effects as targets for indicators even though doing so would be consistent with the Brundtland concept of sustainability in that it would provide indicators for assessing the extent to which we are meeting of current needs whereas indicators addressing Stressors, Investments and Capital provide indicators for assessing the opportunities being passed along to future generations. The Roundtable should discuss the extent to which it wishes to address current outputs and effects as well as capital for the long run.

Indicators for assessments often address Outputs or Human Effects. For sustainability assessment, we must also address the extent to which the capacity of capital is being maintained or enhanced in the three systems.

Indicators for diagnosis and prescription usually focus on the underlying processes that yield outputs. For sustainability diagnosis, indicators are also needed on underlying processes, stressors and investments.

## Targets for Indicators Ex 1

**Pollutants &**
**Facility **
**Construction**

**Precipitation,**
**Evaporation &**
**Runoff**

**Delivered**
**Water**

**Human Health,**
**Income**

**Capacity for **
**Water Supply**

**Indicators**

**Goal: Sustainability of Water Resources**

- Criterion

- Criterion

- Criterion

**Adequate Water Supply**

**Notes:**
This slide provides examples of the targets for indicators, using a criterion related to water supply. Because of the limited space on a diagram of this sort, the examples are illustrative, not comprehensive. Discussions within the Roundtable will be able to provide a much more complete identification of targets for indicators related to maintenance of water supply.

## A Criteria & Indicators Model

**A Criteria & Indicators Model**

**Sustainability of Water Resources**

**Ecological**
**System**

**Social**
**System**

**Economic**
**System**

**Goal**

**Category**

**Indicator**
**Category**

- Human Health

- Quality & Quantity

- Hazards

**System Condition or Capacity**

**Indicator**

- Processes

- Outputs

- Human Effects

- Ecosystem Effects

**Criteria**

**Notes:**
This slide illustrates the relationship between the overall goal, a set of criteria, and the various components and processes that can be targets for indicators. Each criterion corresponds to a category of capital. Once we have identified the various categories of capital that are relevant to sustainable water resources management, we can use our knowledge of systems to identify indicators. This slide uses systems concepts to show the various targets that indicators could address for each criterion.

The underlying processes occur in and between the three systems. The horizontal sequence represents the processes that can affect capital. They are driven by underlying processes that give rise to stressors and investments that can decrease or increase the forms of capital related to the criterion. Indicators that address Underlying Processes, Stressors and Investments and the capacity of the capital can be used for sustainability assessment and diagnosis.

The Underlying Processes of primary interest are those that yield outputs of goods, services, or experiences that humans value. Theses outputs have effects on human health and well-being, both beneficial and damaging. They may also have effects on other living things.

We have not shown Outputs and Effects as targets for indicators even though doing so would be consistent with the Brundtland concept of sustainability in that it would provide indicators for assessing the extent to which we are meeting of current needs whereas indicators addressing Stressors, Investments and Capital provide indicators for assessing the opportunities being passed along to future generations. The Roundtable should discuss the extent to which it wishes to address current outputs and effects as well as capital for the long run.

Indicators for assessments often address Outputs or Human Effects. For sustainability assessment, we must also address the extent to which the capacity of capital is being maintained or enhanced in the three systems.

Indicators for diagnosis and prescription usually focus on the underlying processes that yield outputs. For sustainability diagnosis, indicators are also needed on underlying processes, stressors and investments.

## Ecological System

**Ecological System**

- Capacity to make water of appropriate quality and quantity available to support ecosystems
- Integrity of ecosystems

## Social System

**Social System**

- Social well being resulting from the use of water resources
- Social well being resulting from the use of water-related ecological resources
- Legal, institutional, community and technical capacities for the management of water and related land resources for sustainability

## Economic System

- Capacity to make water of appropriate quality and quantity available for human uses
- Economic well being resulting from use of water and related land resources
- Economic well being resulting from the use of water-related ecological resources

## Draft Factors

**For identifying, organizing, evaluating and choosing “**Appropriate Indicators**”**
**Defining the state of things**
**Relevance**
**Appropriate time horizon and scale**
**Indicator integrity**
**Understandability**

## SWRR goals on sustainability of the nation’s waters

- Develop criteria and indicators to track national water sustainability
- Identify research collaboration opportunities
- Collaborate in development of a 2005 report on water sustainability

## Lessons Learned

- Think long term
- Provide a process for developing a common language and understanding
- Align economic and policy signals with sustainable behavior
- Measure progress & make mid-course corrections

## Web Sites

- _[www.eqb.state.mn.us/SDI/](http://www.eqb.state.mn.us/SDI/)_
- _[www.eqb.state.mn.us/water/](http://www.eqb.state.mn.us/water/)_
- _[www.nextstep.state.mn.us](http://www.nextstep.state.mn.us/)_
- _http://water.usgs.gov/wicp/acwi/swrr/_

## 
	“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.  Indeed, that’s the only thing that ever has.”

				Margaret Meade

*	**“**Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world.  Indeed, that’s the only thing that ever has.”*
**	****	****	****	****Margaret Meade**