Stakeholder engagement for sustainable water supply management: what does the future hold?

Sustainable water supply and water resource management relies on effectively engaging stakeholders in decision making. With water conflicts increasing due to stressors such as population growth, climate change, and aging infrastructure, stakeholder engagement holds the promise to improve decisions, save time and money, and improve relationships between governing bodies and stakeholders. This opinion paper reviews the benefits of engaging stakeholders in water supply management decision-making, assesses the current state of the practice, and predicts future trends in the North American setting. The current use of technology will undoubtedly continue, allowing water managers to engage more stakeholders and engage them more substantively. We predict increased roles for the private and nongovernmental sectors in stakeholder engagement, taking place at different scales, but with a focus on the local level. Evaluating the benefits and effectiveness of engagement processes will help justify the investments, and also support practitioners to determine the most appropriate tools and techniques. Finally, foundational principles of open communication, building and maintaining trust, and ethical decision-making must be placed front and center. We see continued growth in the importance, tools, and application of stakeholder engagement as water managers and the communities they serve to strive towards sustainability.