Using Value-Focused Thinking to Improve Watersheds

This article presents a process for making decisions about how best to improve the quality of watersheds. Value-focused thinking is an approach to structuring decisions by concentrating on the decision makersʹ values and preferences rather than the limited alternatives at hand. We describe how we used value-focused thinking to construct a model for measuring the current condition of an urban watershed, Upham Brook, in Richmond, Virginia. The model reflected the values of a 16-member panel and used readily available and commonly collected data as inputs. The results for Upham Brook were compared to those for a hypothetical perfect watershed to reveal gaps or shortcomings that could be targeted for improvement. We also discuss how this process may be applied by planners elsewhere seeking to improve the quality of other watersheds.