Management Goals for Waquoit Bay

One of the first key challenges in planning is interpreting a management goal into a question or issue the risk assessment will examine. In order for the goal to be met, what specific objectives need to be achieved in a particular ecosystem?

Let's look at an example of how risk assessors answer this question.

Waquoit Bay is a small estuary on Cape Cod showing signs of degradation, including loss of eelgrass, fish, and shellfish, and an increase in macroalgae mats and fish kills. The management goal for Waquoit Bay was established through public meetings, preexisting goals from local organizations, and state and federal regulations. The goal explicitly defined ecological values to be protected – thus providing a good foundation for identifying actions to reduce risk and for generating risk assessment objectives.

Click the audio icon or text version link to see and hear the Waquoit Bay management goal.

Waquoit Bay Management Goal     text-only version

This management goal was then made more explicit by defining 10 specific management objectives. Not only do management objectives elaborate on the management goals, they tell us something about how they can be achieved.

Click the audio icon or text version link to consider the first five of these.

Five Waquoit Bay Management Objectives     text-only version

Now, try to imagine what others might be.

It might help to review the In Depth topic, on the Products of Planning screen, that discusses the questions risk managers and risk assessors might address during planning. You might want to print that page out or open it in a pop-up window and use some of those questions to consider the management goal described in the first audio. Try to find possible objectives that were not addressed in the first five listed. For example, what is the context of this assessment – are there key elements of the environment that haven't been discussed?

Also, look carefully at the management goal. Does it mention entities of concern that weren't addressed in the first five objectives? Which of their attributes might be at risk and need protection? What are some of the entities that might eventually be impacted if the diversity of the fish and shellfish populations declines, further deteriorating the habitat conditions in the watershed area?

The Last Five Waquoit Bay Management Objectives     text-only version

How Management Objectives Are Broken Down into Ecological Entities and Endpoint Attributes     text-only version

Relevant guidelines section(s): Text Box 2.6