From Rhetoric to Reality: Are the Outcomes from a Modss Approach to Decision-making Living up to the Claims?

Multiple Objective Decision Support System (MODSS), or Multiple Criteria Analysis (MCA), has been put forward as an approach to decision-making that identifies a management option or options that best “satisfices” the interests of affected stakeholders when the problem to be addressed is complex and the outcomes difficult to quantify. The approach, which facilitates the incorporation of information from multiple disciplines, is recommended as appropriate to address complex natural resource management problems. It is variously claimed that the MODSS approach is effective in improving communication between stakeholder groups that might otherwise have been in conflict. An improved understanding of the natural resource problem being addressed and the options to address the problem, is argued to result in a greater acceptance and therefore compliance to the final choice of action. This report presents the initial findings from a project to assess the effectiveness of a MODSS that was implemented to assist the evaluation and implementation of a number of options to manage an emerging groundwater problem in a catchment area in Far North Queensland.