Resilience, Adaptation, and Transformation in the Klamath River Basin Social-Ecological system

This article uses the four-phase adaptive cycle model that Lance Gunder-son and C.S. Holling described in 2002 to trace the history of the Klamath Basin social-ecological system (“SES”) through periods characterized by vulnerability, resilience, and transformation. We conclude that while Kla-math Basin stakeholders have worked out a compromise settlement that may signify the emergence of a new, more resilient regime of environmental governance, the Basin’s future is uncertain. We identify important thresholds that, if triggered, could move the SES into alternate regimes, and we consider whether formalization of emergent institutions through legislation might influence this trajectory.