A comparative study of the governance and boundary-related conflicts within interstate river basins in the western United States
This study is funded by the
National Science Foundation (collaborative project with Edella C. Schlager
at the University of Arizona), examining 15 western river basins that are
governed under interstate compacts. The project aims to develop a better
understanding of how linkages across different scales of governance (local,
state, regional) relate to conflicts that can develop over shared resources and
relate to the resolution of those conflicts. With the support of graduate
students at Columbia University and the University of Arizona, the research team
is coding data on 1) the rules governing compacts, 2) the operational and
collective choice decisions of compact administrators over time, 3) state water
agencies and water laws, and 4) conflicts in the basin and their resolution
mechanisms over time. The analysis will focus on describing the nature of
cross-scale institutional linkages in resources management settings, assessing
the factors that lead to conflicts in cross-scale institutional settings, and
assessing the types of venues that are most effective in resolving different
types of conflicts. From an applied perspective, this research will also
analyze interstate river compacts as water governance institutions – explaining
what they are, why they were created, and how they operate.
Comparative study of large-scale collaborative ecosystem restoration programs
This research (along with Andrea Gerlak, University of Arizona) compares four
regional institutions in the United States: the Northwest Power and Conservation
Council’s Fish and Wildlife Program, the Chesapeake Bay Program, the CALFED
Bay-Delta Program, and the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan. These
programs are representative of a movement in natural resource management to rely
more on coordinated institutional arrangements to address resource problems that
cross multiple jurisdictional boundaries. This research contributes to both
the theory explaining collaborative governance, as well as offers practical
knowledge about how some of our critical ecosystems are being managed. Three
articles from this research have recently been published in the
Policy Studies Journal (2005), Natural Resources Journal (2006), and PS:
Political Science and Politics (2007).
Water – A 21st Century Sustainability Challenge
Since 2004, Dr. Heikkila has been involved in Columbia University Earth Institute’s Cross-Cutting Initiative on Water. This group of researchers is collaborating on an initiative to develop analytical capacities in the estimation of supply and demand dilemmas in critical growth regions like India, China, and Brazil. It will engage in modeling efforts to assess different solutions to address some of these critical water problems – emphasizing the interaction between the institutions related to global agricultural water use and local and basin-level water use decisions.
Past Research
Institutional analysis of performance decisions among special purpose governments
As a follow-up project to an article published with Kimberley Isett (Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health) in the American Review of Public Administration (2004), Heikkila and Isett studied the adoption of performance management tools among special districts, with initial funding from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. This study gathered data on nine special districts (water, health, and housing districts) in three metropolitan regions of the state of Texas, using interviews, focus groups, and content analyses on the meeting minutes of the governing boards of the districts. It assessed the extent to which the districts in the study measure performance, how they report it, and the extent to which citizens have a say in these processes. The results of the pilot study have been published in Public Administration Review (2007).
Analysis of Institutions and Conjunctive Water Management in Three Western States
As a graduate student, Dr. Heikkila worked on a study funded by the National Science Foundation (Edella C. Schlager and William Blomquist, PIs) that compared how institutions support the development and implementation of “conjunctive water management” (or the coordinated use of ground and surface waters) in Arizona, California, and Colorado. This study compared the property rights regimes of the three states, the water laws supporting groundwater storage and re-use, and the organizational relationships among water providers engaged in storing surface water in groundwater basins. Heikkila’s involvement in this project led to her dissertation research, which analyzed the coordination mechanisms among public agencies, irrigators, special districts, and municipalities involved in conjunctive water management programs. It also led to a number of articles as well as a book, Common Waters, Diverging Streams, (2004, RFF Press) with Schlager and Blomquist.