Just how different are stakeholder group opinions on water management issues?

Whilst the argument for extending the constituency of consultees on water management is now widely accepted, further understanding is required of how the process of participatory planning and management can best be structured and facilitated. The research reported here addresses an important feature of these debates by asking to what extent the views of stakeholder groups on significant features of participative planning processes and water management issues actually vary? A questionnaire based survey of four stakeholder groups (Regulators, Water Managers, Researchers, and Customers; N = 153) was conducted and Pearson chi-square and one way ANOVA measures were used to identify significant differences between the four stakeholder groups' responses. The findings demonstrate that different stakeholder groups do not represent polarised positions regarding (a) preferences for water policy mechanisms, (b) preferred degrees of public involvement in participatory management, or (c) attitudes towards sources of information. The discussion focuses on the implications for designing and managing participatory planning activities.