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The overall goal of this multidisciplinary, multi-regional, national facilitation proposal is to gauge public knowledge, attitudes, perceptions and preferences related to potential water reallocation strategies in the West. <P>Specific objectives include forming regional focus groups to elicit values/beliefs about western water issues and to assist in designing a survey of Western households; completing a stratified random internet survey of households in 17 western states with a focus on perceptions of water; analyzing survey responses to better understand public knowledge levels, values, attitudes and preferences regarding the allocation and management of water resources in the West; identifying existing outreach opportunities available for helping USDA-CSREES regional and state water coordinators, as well as other stakeholders, to make informed decisions about water development, allocation and management; facilitating a western water resource dialogue and outreach process by disseminating survey results to a number of stakeholders.
Non-Technical Summary: Water is a scarce resource in the West. As the western U.S. experiences rapid urbanization, increasing pressure is placed on this resource and it must be reallocated from one use to another. Significant conflict erupts over water reallocation strategies. For stakeholders and policymakers to better manage water resources in the future, it is necessary to develop tools and knowledge that address key water policy issues. This project examines the public knowledge, values, attitudes, perceptions and preferences regarding water resource issues including water reallocation, water reuse, environmental amenities/aesthetics, food security and the viability of rural communities. <P> Approach: The study area includes the 17 western-most states of the continental U.S including Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. Data will be collected in two stages. In stage 1, focus groups will be conducted in selected regions of the study area, as well as a telephone elicitation study of a small sample of residents in each study area. Focus groups, consisting of 10-15 participants stratified along urban and rural settings, will be held in four representative western U.S. locations and will identify key stakeholder groups including representatives from households in urban, suburban, exurban and rural communities, leadership from municipalities, leadership from rural communities with potential of losing irrigated acres, representatives from environmental groups, an irrigating farmer, a land developer, etc. Immediately following the focus group process, we will randomly contact 20 to 30 members of the general public by telephone in each region to obtain specific beliefs people have about each of the key areas identified through the focus group process. Stage 2 leverages the information found in stage 1 to develop and administer an internet based survey of residents in the study area. An internet survey will allow selected respondents to log onto a website and complete the survey on-line. Residents will submit the survey electronically and responses will be collected directly into a statistical software package for analysis. The Tailored Design Method for administering internet surveys will be utilized to increase response rate. The method involves several communications with the sample population to encourage completion of a survey. The surveys will measure the basic values/beliefs the public holds related to agriculture; public perceptions and attitudes toward specific agricultural water use/re-use, water security and water market issues; public knowledge about these issues; and socio-demographic and lifestyle characteristics of respondents.