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The following items may need to be dealt with in order to properly
present management options. The column on the right reveals discussion
and examples of some of the in-depth clarifications that you might
need to make when planning a risk assessment.
| Management goals vs. management options vs. management decisions |
What is the difference between management goals, options,
and decisions?
Goals are general statements of what we want to achieve,
options are the possibilities for achieving goals, and decisions
are the actual choices we make. For example, "fishable, swimmable
waters" is a management goal.
One way to get there (management
option) might be increasing enforcement of point-source
discharges. Can you think of other options? Some other possible
examples are restoring fish habitat or designing alternative
sewage treatment facilities.
The management decision
would be to pick one or more options and eventually (with
the help of the risk assessment and other analyses) determine
how to fulfill it. |
| Decision criteria |
Decision criteria are often used in a tiering framework to
decide how detailed a risk assessment should be. Early tiers
may be yes/no questions using predetermined decision criteria
to answer whether a potential risk exists. Later tiers might
use questions of what, where, and how great is the risk. |
| Complex risk assessments |
Regional or watershed-scale risk assessments examine multiple
stressors, ecological values, and political and economic factors.
To accommodate this complexity, they must be flexible and, in
many cases, iterative. They generally look at ecosystem processes.
These risk assessments are often based on a general goals statement
and multiple potential decisions. Plan carefully when seeking
to decide which management decisions may be addressed and to
establish their purpose, scope, and complexity. |
Relevant
guidelines section(s): 2.2.2
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Identifying Management Options (Text Version)