title: Strategic analysis of a water rights conflict in the south western United States.
abstract: A strategic analysis of the ongoing conflict between Nevada and Utah, over groundwater allocation at Snake Valley, is carried out in order to investigate ways on how to resolve this dispute. More specifically, the Graph Model for Conflict Resolution is employed to formally model and analyze this conflict using the decision support system called GMCR+. The conflict analysis findings indicate that the dispute is enduring because of a lack of incentive and opportunity for any party to move beyond the present circumstances. Continued negotiations are not likely to resolve this conflict. A substantial change in the preferences or options of the disputants, or new governance tools will be required to move this conflict forward. This may hold lessons for future groundwater conflicts. It is, however, increasingly likely that the parties will require a third party intervention, such as equal apportionment by the US Supreme Court.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo Ontario, Canada, 200 University Ave. West, Waterloo N2L 3G, Canada. Electronic address: sphilpot@uwaterloo.ca.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Philpot
authors.affiliation: Department of Systems Design Engineering, University of Waterloo Ontario, 200 University Ave. West, Waterloo N2L 3G1, Canada.
authors.forename: Keith
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hipel
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography and Environmental Management, University of Waterloo Ontario, Canada, 200 University Ave. West, Waterloo N2L 3G, Canada.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Johnson
mesh_terms: D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D060587:Groundwater; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D017008:Negotiating; D009505:Nevada; D014589:Utah; D014881:Water Supply
keywords: Conflict analysis; Decision support system; Groundwater; Trans-boundary resource management; Water rights