David Meets Goliath: Examining the Causes of Grassroots Collaborative Networks in Water Regulation

• In Event: Collaborative Governance for a Clean, Smart, and Resilient Society: Insights into Policy and Practice

Abstract

Environmental regulation often relies on a top-down “command-and-control” model of public management, where state and federal governments play critical roles in overseeing the entire process—from pollution inspection and enforcement to problem resolution. However, existing literature provides abundant evidence that political interactions among players at different levels of government often reduce the efficiency of regulatory compliance, particularly for historically marginalized communities with less political and economic power. This research explores how external, internal, and regional diffusion factors contribute to the grassroot adoption of bottom-up, nonprofit-led, cross-sectoral collaborative networks in water regulation.

We utilize the classic environmental policy adoption framework (Internal/External Determinants Model and Regional Diffusion Model) to study the innovation/adoption and participation in Source Water Collaboratives (SWCs). SWCs are nonprofit collaborative platforms that unite 30 cross-sectoral organizations to protect drinking water sources such as lakes, rivers, streams, and aquifers. Since their inception, 37 grassroots collaborative networks have been established across the U.S. from 2006 to 2020.

Our analysis uses panel data aggregated at the county-year level (1983–2024) from multiple sources, including Clean Water Act (CWA) and Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) regulation data from the Environmental Protection Agency database, SWC documents, and socio-demographic data from the American Community Survey. We employ a staggered difference-in-differences method to estimate the causal effects of Internal/External determinants and regional diffusion on the adoption of SWCs: (1) Internal: water problem severity (CWA and SDWA violations); (2) External: state’s stringent regulatory policies beyond federal requirements; and (3) Regional Diffusion: SWCs adoption and participation by peer jurisdiction. Additionally, we conduct subgroup analyses based on water system ownership (public vs. private) and community characteristics (disadvantaged vs. advantaged) to deepen our understanding of environmental justice concerns, and how the environmental justice considerations enhance the adoption and participation on grassroots collaborative networks. Preliminary results indicate that internal factor of water problem severity contribute to the decision to participate in Source Water Collaboratives.

Author

• Xi Chen, Northern Arizona University
  Presenting Author