A collaborative approach to address the cumulative impacts of mine-water discharge: Negotiating a cross-sectoral waterway partnership in the Bowen Basin, Australia

► Complex environmental issues and blurred responsibilities encourage collaboration. ► Resource companies now engage in collaborative management of cumulative impacts. ► Collaboration requires new models of neutral brokerage and facilitative leadership. ► Collaborations need credibility, legitimacy and salience to partners and the public. ► Collaborative governance is not a panacea for all cumulative impact management.