U.S. Midwestern Residents Perceptions of Water Quality

Abstract

Abstract:The plurality of conservation and environmental viewpoints often challenge community leaders and government agency staff as they seek to engage citizens and build partnerships around watershed planning and management to solve complex water quality issues. The U.S. Midwest Heartland region (covering the states of Missouri, Kansa, Iowa, and Nebraska) is dominated by row crop production and animal agriculture, where an understanding of perceptions held by residents of different locations (urban, rural non-farm, and rural farm) towards water quality and the environment can provide a foundation for public deliberation and decision making. A stratified random sample mail survey of 1,042 Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska residents (54% response rate) reveals many areas of agreement among farm, rural non-farm, and those who live in towns on the importance of water issues including the importance and use of water resources; beliefs about water quality and perceptions of impaired water quality causality; beliefs about protecting local waters; and environmental attitudes. With two ordinal logistic models, we also found that respondents with strong environmental attitudes have the least confidence in ground and surface water quality. The findings about differences and areas of agreement among the residents of different sectors can provide a communication bridge among divergent viewpoints and assist local leaders and agency staff as they seek to engage the public in discussions which lead to negotiating solutions to difficult water issues.

Differences in Opinions about Surface Water Quality Issues in the Southern United States: Implications for Watershed Planning Process

“…To design an effective participatory watershed management process, government agencies need to account for the degree of the heterogeneity in opinions about water quality and pollution sources of the target community. This study shows that similar to the results reported for other regions (Hu and Morton, 2011), in the southern United States, the degree of the heterogeneity of citizens’ opinions about the impacts of nutrients and pathogens on local water quality, as well as about the relative contributions of the potential pollution sources, depends on residency in urban or rural areas and involvement in agriculture, as well as on demographic characteristics. We found that younger, female, urban dwellers are generally more concerned about fertilizer and pathogen water quality issues than are older, male, rural dwellers (and those particularly involved in agriculture).…”

“…Several studies have shown that urban residents may share more concerns about environmental issues than do rural residents, although the difference depends on the measure of environmental concern used by the researchers (e.g., Arcury and Christianson, 1990; Morrissey and Manning, 2000). Those residing in rural areas generally perceive their water to be of better quality and less affected by such sources of pollution as farming and timber harvesting (Hu and Morton, 2011). This difference in perceptions can be explained by the more pronounced exposure to environmental degradation in urban areas.…”

“…In this article, we use the responses to a nationwide survey of public attitudes and perceptions related to water issues (Hu and Morton, 2011; Borisova et al, 2012a; Mahler et al, 2004, 2013) to explore the heterogeneity in attitudes and opinions about the critical environmental issue of nutrient and pathogen water pollution. We focus on the southern United States.…”

“…Finally, in metropolitan areas, socialization can lead to favorable perceptions of group solutions to environmental problems (Lowe and Pinhey, 1982;Freudenburg and McGinn, 1987;VanLiere and Dunlap, 1980). In this article, we use the responses to a nationwide survey of public attitudes and perceptions related to water issues (Hu and Morton, 2011;Borisova et al, 2012a;Mahler et al, 2004 to explore the heterogeneity in attitudes and opinions about the critical environmental issue of nutrient and pathogen water pollution. We focus on the southern United States.…”

Adoption of voluntary water-pollution reduction technologies and water quality perception among Danish farmers

“…Studies on farmers' perception of water quality and pollution reduction measures and adoption of associated BMPs have been conducted over the last few decades with most of them being conducted in the US (Lichtenberg and Lessley, 1992;Ryan et al, 2003;Morton, 2007;Popp et al, 2007;Kaplowitz and Witter, 2008;Hu and Morton, 2011;Savage and Ribaudo, 2013). Bratt (2002), analyzes Swedish farmers' choices for management practices aimed at reducing nutrient pollution at the catchment level, while Sang (2008) studies farmers' preference for catchment management practices in Scotland.…”