Rivers and river basin management issues and concerns in the Pacific Northwest, USA

Mahler, R. L.; Barber, Michael E.

doi:10.2495/rm150011

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Four mailings were planned to achieve the 50% return rate [10,11]. The mailing strategy used was identical in all eight surveys that had been conducted in the region since 1998 [1,2,3,4]. It only took three mailings to achieve the target return rate of 50% in 2002, 2005, 2007, 2012 and 2015.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Priority water uses from 1998 to 2017 for urban, suburban and rural residents of the Pacific Northwest, USA

Mahler¹

2019

Int. J. SDP

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Water is the most important and most debated natural resource in the Pacific Northwest. Researchers, educators and policy makers give a lot of attention to water resources in the region; however, the knowledge of actual water resource priorities of the public is lacking. Consequently, the purpose of this research study was to document how urban, suburban and rural residents living in the Pacific Northwest prioritize water resource issues over the last 20 years. A survey instrument was developed to ask the public about 10 common water uses in the region. This survey was statistically designed using the Dillman methodology and delivered to the public using a mail-based survey process in and 2017. Water uses in this study were the importance of water for: irrigated agriculture, aquatic habitat, commerce, drinking water, household landscapes, industry, power generation, recreation, snowpack and wetlands. Each water use could be categorized by survey respondents as very important, important, somewhat important, not important or no opinion. In 2017, drinking water, snowpack, wetlands, recreation, aquatic habitat, industry, commerce, power generation, household landscapes and irrigated agriculture were considered an important or very important use of water by over 95, 80, 79, 77, 76, 74, 64, 63, 52 and 47% of the public, respectively. Over time snowpack, recreation, wetlands and aquatic habitat protection have become more important to the public. Conversely, the importance of water for irrigated agriculture, power generation and commerce have become less important to the public. However, at least 45% of all respondents considered all ten questioned water uses important. Survey respondents were placed into three groups (urban, suburban or rural) based on the population of their home county. Rural residents considered the use of water for agriculture more important than both suburban (84 vs. 46%) and urban (84 vs. 35%) residents. Conversely, urban residents were more likely to consider the preservation of wetlands as very important, compared to suburban and rural residents. The demographic factors of gender, education and age also impacted how the public viewed the importance of different water-related issues. Females were more likely than males to consider most water uses important. Respondents with more formal education were more likely to consider snowpack and aquatic habitat important than those with less formal education. Younger respondents were more likely than older residents to consider wetlands and aquatic habitat important. The information from this study will be used to assist policy makers in their decision-making processes about water resource issues.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The public in the PNW are aware of the high quality and sufficient quantity of their water resource [1,2,3,4,5]. Studies have shown that a significant portion of public are interested in water and that they access water information on the Internet [6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Priority water uses from 1998 to 2017 for urban, suburban and rural residents of the Pacific Northwest, USA

Mahler¹

2019

Int. J. SDP

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“…This system is key to the economies of British Columbia, Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Montana as it supports agriculture (5,000,000 irrigated ha), commerce, power production, direct human water consumption, food processing and recreation. Previously conducted surveys have shown than that the public within the region consider water their most important natural resource and that there are significant concerns about both water quality and water quantity issues within this large river basin [1]- [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Four mailings were planned to achieve the 50% return rate [15], [16]. The mailing strategy used was identical in all six surveys that had been conducted in the region since 1970 [1]- [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in Public Perceptions of River Basin Management Priority Issues Over the Last 28 Years in the Pacific Northwest, Usa

Mahler

Barber²

2017

WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment

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Residents of the Pacific Northwest region of the USA have considered water issues their highest environmental resource priority for over 50 years. We surveyed the public living in the Columbia basin watershed in the states of Idaho, Washington and Oregon about the water issues they considered most important in 1988, 1994, 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2016. Each of these six mail-based surveys was unique; however, all surveys contained three identical questions so that changes in public opinions and priorities over time could be measured. Demographic information about survey respondent gender, age, community size and formal education level were also collected. The public opinion changes observed over this 28-year period were significant. The opinions that were constant regardless of time were: (1) most people considered water in the Columbia basin to be of good or better quality, (2) most residents considered the Columbia basin to provide adequate quantities of water, (3) and over 60% of the public found that power generation was the most important benefit provided by waters of the Columbia-Snake River System. Overall, the public living in the Columbia-Snake River Watershed is engaged and care about water issues. This engagement is becoming increasingly important as more interests compete for the limited supplies of water in the region.

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Rivers and river basin management issues and concerns in the Pacific Northwest, USA

Cited by 2 publications

References 17 publications

Priority water uses from 1998 to 2017 for urban, suburban and rural residents of the Pacific Northwest, USA

Priority water uses from 1998 to 2017 for urban, suburban and rural residents of the Pacific Northwest, USA

Changes in Public Perceptions of River Basin Management Priority Issues Over the Last 28 Years in the Pacific Northwest, Usa

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