There is a growing need to comprehend the multi-stakeholder governance arrangements resulting from water's versatile role across sectors and to create relevant research techniques to examine them. The Porsuk Watershed, located in northwest Anatolia, covers 10,825 km2 and faces pollution from industrial discharges and domestic wastewater which affects irrigation and surface water resources. The objective of this study is to categorize actors involved in watershed management and operationalize interactions among them to offer policy recommendations aimed at increasing the cohesiveness of the network and allowing opportunities for cross-sector WEFE collaboration using combined stakeholder analysis (SA) and social network analysis (SNA). In this study, a novel method of grouping watershed management stakeholders according to influence and interest criteria is developed. Afterward, the interactions among these actors are operationalized in a unique manner through social networks which use the water value chain concept to identify the types of interactions actors may have. Finally, the results have allowed the formation of informed policy recommendations to increase the cohesiveness of the network and allow opportunities for cross-sector collaboration. Across 50 interviews, the results indicate higher resource pressure experienced by farmers and lack of influence and weak connections by this stakeholder category. Most of the stakeholders have been identified to have a high interest in circular economy practices. Regulatory enforcement does not seem to be a driving force of behavior change in high influence stakeholders. Financial support seems to be distributed in an efficient manner, while most farmers in the region have stated difficulty or lack of knowledge regarding funded practices. It was found that combining our approach in both SA and SNA is highly fruitful in gaining a greater understanding of the socio-political landscape of integrated watershed management.
