Research on producer willingness to adopt individual best pasture management practices (BMPs) is extensive, but less attention has been paid to producers simultaneously adopting multiple, complementary BMPs. Applications linking primary survey data on BMP adoption to water quality biophysical models are also limited. A choice-experiment survey of livestock producers is analyzed to determine willingness to adopt pasture BMPs. Sediment abatement curves are derived by linking estimates of producer responsiveness to incentives to adopt rotational grazing with a biophysical simulation model. Current cost share rates of $24/acre should yield a 12% decrease in sediment loading from pastures.
Rising infrastructure costs for water providers and the rising cost of water for households pose several challenges for water providers, policy makers, and the research community. Consumers may utilize several strategies for coping with rising water costs including reduced water use or spending reductions on other household goods and services. To provide a first glance at the link between rising water bills and consumer spending, this study analyzes data from a household survey in the United States to understand how consumers may change spending behavior given various water bill increase scenarios. Results of this analysis provide insights into the demographics of households likely to be affected, the industries that could be affected, and at what bill increase levels these trends are most pronounced. While additional research on this topic is needed, these results suggest a stronger emphasis on long-term water management planning and allocation of resources to building and maintaining water infrastructure may be required. For utilities, this means a consideration of nonrevenue sources of funds to pay for rising water costs and strategies for making water more affordable for customers without deferring infrastructure improvements.
Research analyzing perceptions of water services has focused on water quality, water safety, and the propensity to consume water from different sources. It has not assessed perceptions of water costs. To address this knowledge gap, this study collected nationally representative survey data from households in the United States about water issues and incorporated these data into logistic regression models. In doing so, our study advances the water and public policy literature in three ways. One, it addresses the need for household resolution information about water issues given the absence of data at this scale in the United States. Two, it creates and utilizes one-of-a-kind survey data to understand the perceptions of household water bills and the drivers of these perceptions. Three, we assess the impact of proposed solutions to improve water affordability on household perceptions of water costs. Model results indicate low-income and households in underrepresented groups were more likely to perceive their water bills to be too high. The perception of water costs also varied geographically. From a policy perspective, model results indicate utilities can positively affect perceptions of water bills via the frequency of water billing and provision of payment assistance programs.
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