Furthering the Decision-Making Process for Watershed Management in Québec: Case Studies and Principal Challenges
The unique conditions that prevail when a political approach to watershed management in Quebec (Canada) is taken, requires a need for integrated methodologies to promote the following: information sharing and analysis, negotiation of conditions among stakeholders and introduction of selected management alternatives. This article brings the modelling of regional decision-making processes that apply to watershed management (WM) into perspective. It discusses the methodological challenges relating to information that are inherent to this management issue, particularly in a Québec (Canada) context. It shows links between decisional concerns and geomatic skills for modelling these regional processes, as an integrated decision support system (IDSS). Lastly, it recommends assessing the use of this type of system to promote the emergence of conditions where such an approach to watershed management in Québec could be implemented, based on interviews conducted with regional professionals in the Chaudière and Outaouais basins.