Having a seat at the table, and voices heard, makes a world of difference when it comes to natural resources. It sounds intuitive, but experts didn’t have enough data to prove it until now.

A team of researchers from across the country pored over 108 groundwater management plans in California to see how well they protect stakeholders like domestic well users, farmers and ecosystems. They found that the plans that incorporated stakeholder input offered greater protection from groundwater depletion. Unfortunately, only 9% of the sustainability plans integrated these users in a comprehensive manner.

The findings have broad implications for resource management, both in California and abroad. The authors published their independent analysis in Nature Communications. The data and findings from this study were shared with different stakeholders and organizations, who have used it to inform policy recommendations.

“It’s a big deal that we found empirical evidence that stakeholder integration leads to better protection,” said co-lead author Debra Perrone, an assistant professor in UC Santa Barbara’s Environmental Studies Program. “There are very few published papers that show this connection empirically.”