It is time to reform the myth that interagency cooperation is key to improving water resources management in Canada by recognizing the increasing need to resolve conflicts among the wide diversity of private and public interests involved. In the last two decades there have been major innovations in management strategies, including the introduction of varied referral, impact assessment and planning processes. Bargaining and negotiation within these processes has become the pervasive practice of everyday management. There has, however, been little attention given to the factors determining their success in promoting cooperation and conflict resolution. The adoption of a new myth explicitly acknowledging and exploiting the role of negotiation in cooperation and conflict resolution directs attention to fundamental changes required in the skills of the people involved and the design of institutional arrangements for management.
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