**6. Discussion and Potential Limitations**

Beginning with the work in Bolivia, and continuing through the work in California, the research team has continued to refine the RDS practice based on feedback from participants. This has produced the current design of the RDS practice shown in Figure 3. One current feature of the practice, which was implemented in California but which was not undertaken in Bolivia, is the discrete step of assessing the vulnerability of the current system, and defining threshold values for the user specific performance metrics associated with the "would love to see" and "could live with" criteria prior to actually presenting any results associated with the performance of a particular strategy. In Bolivia, the results for the base case were simply presented along with the results associated with the strategies. It has become clear that taking the time to develop a baseline system vulnerability assessment and to define performance thresholds before evaluating the implications of strategies is an effective way to diffuse potential conflicts that typically surround strategies. This is particularly true for strategies related to new infrastructure, as it focuses the discussion where it should be, on the distinct set of values that each stakeholder brings to negotiation, values which must be broadly addressed by any proposed water managemen<sup>t</sup> intervention, including new infrastructure investments.

Another feature of later RDS efforts has been subsequent sets of ensemble model runs that combine features of individual strategy options into integration programs of action. In Bolivia, the exploration of performance focused only on the proposed strategies in isolation. Fortunately the stakeholders were able to extract from this analysis the broad outlines of an integrated program that became the kernel of eventual engineering design and costing work. This effort was complicated somewhat, however, by issues related to timing and scale that could have been resolved as part of the RDS work had additional rounds of analysis been completed. In the Yuba case, and in all other current RDS efforts, these additional rounds have proved very useful in creating a consensus around not only the timing of specific actions but also around more coordinated operating rules associated with these interventions.

Nonetheless, it is safe to say that in all venues where the RDS practice has been deployed the experience has been positively received. Table 3 contains some written impressions of the process from both the Bolivia and California cases. In general, the experience suggests that the co-creation of knowledge is an effective way to diffuse distrust between various stakeholder constituencies that often characterize water resource planning and decision-making process. This co-creation process begins with the joint problem formulation, with its open statement of stakeholder-specific values and preferences, continues with the joint vetting and validation of the modeling tools that will be used to inform the process, and culminates in an open discussion of mutually acceptable tradeoffs and compromises. The entire process is facilitated by the ability to dynamically explore the implications of various managemen<sup>t</sup> options using powerful data visualization tools, which is both empowering for the RDS participants, and, based on feedback provided following workshops, enjoyable. In addition to helping the participants deliberate on the relative merits of each individual strategy proposal, the RDS process itself seems to build the social cohesion that can lead to increased levels of cooperation.


**Table 3.** Some observations on the utility of the RDS practice from a survey of participants following the completion of the exercise in both La Paz/El Alto, Bolivia and Yuba County, California.

That said, there are potential drawbacks associated with the RDS practice that need to be considered and compensated for, if possible.


Recognizing these potential limitations, and making plans to address them early in the RDS process will greatly improve the usefulness and potential success of the investment of time and talent required to actually implement what is a powerful negotiation technique. It must be acknowledged, however, that the RDS practice has not been applied in a context of institutionalized power imbalance, such as a caste system. It would be interesting to see if the RDS practice would prove successful in such a setting.
