Watershed management aims to address nonpoint source pollution, which results from a variety of land management practices. Currently, agriculture is cited as one major source of nonpoint source pollution. We need a better understanding of how to collaborate with stakeholders when their involvement is important, such as the case in watershed management. We used a case study in the Red Cedar River Watershed to attempt and evaluate one method of building collaboration among agricultural stakeholders in the watershed management planning process. Watershed management and public participation literature informed the selection of the Appreciative Inquiry Model to frame meetings with agricultural stakeholders designed to build collaboration. An analytical framework was used to guide the collection and analysis of evidence to determine whether or not desired project outcomes were met using Appreciative Inquiry and whether or not the application of Appreciative Inquiry could be considered an egalitarian deliberation form of public participation. The study found the Appreciative Inquiry Model can be applied in scenarios where the egalitarian deliberation perspective is most beneficial for stakeholder involvement. The study also found that using the Appreciative Inquiry Model allowed for achieving some of the desired process and substantive outcomes of the Watershed Management Planning Project. The use of Appreciative Inquiry did not achieve the desired stakeholder attendance. All outcomes resulting from this approach for building stakeholder collaboration cannot be measured at this time.
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