Date of this Version The regulation of non-point pollution
sources (e.g. agricultural runoff and stormwater discharges) as
mandated by the 1972 Clean Water Act, forced a fundamental
paradigm shift from “end of the pipe” pollution control to a
watershed management approach. Multiple jurisdictions and often
conflicting objectives make it difficult to reach stakeholder
consensus and execute watershed management decisions. To
facilitate decision making when multiple and/or conflicting
objectives exist, Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) tools
were developed for diverse applications, and potentially could
be used to facilitate watershed management. The overall
objective of this thesis was to evaluate MCDM tool use to
facilitate community-based management of an urbanizing
watershed. The study methodology was to recruit representative
stakeholders from the community; identify critical issues/goals,
decision criteria, and applicable technologies, considering
ecological, human health, social, and economic factors;