Survey findings of public attitudes about water issues in Colorado
By research associate Matt Neibauer and extension specialists Reagan Waskom and Troy Bauder, of Colorado State University
The Northern Plains and Mountains (NPM) Regional Water Program is a collaboration between water quality coordinators in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. It is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service.
The program’s mission is to protect and improve the quality of water resources by facilitating development, delivery and implementation of new and existing practices throughout the region.
In order to achieve this mission, the NPM Water Team designed and conducted a statistically valid survey for each state in the region. The main goals of the survey were to investigate peoples’ attitudes and behaviors toward the environment, water issues, the need to protect and preserve water resources, and water resources education preferences. Ultimately, the survey will help identify future programming needs of the regional program and the state.
During fall 2004, 309 (51%) of the 600 randomly sampled surveys were completed in Colorado – each identifying the age, gender, education level, occupation, time of residence and size of community of the Colorado respondents.
The first set of survey questions queried residents’ attitudes toward environmental and water issues. The majority (more than 95%) of Colorado respondents thought clean drinking water, ground water and rivers were extremely important issues, with water for recreation and landscaping rating the least important (Figure 1). The survey also indicated residents (more than 75%) recognized that better agricultural practices, preservation of agricultural land and open space, and watershed management were important actions to protecting water resources in Colorado.
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When asked about the quality of their drinking water, 92% of respondents thought their drinking water was safe to drink. Interestingly, only 68% of respondents were satisfied with their drinking water, while 18% were not satisfied.
In terms of awareness about which pollutants predominantly affect water quality, Colorado residents identified fertilizers, minerals, and pesticides as the most suspicious or problematic. Surprisingly, many people (38-47%) did not know bacteria, fertilizers, heavy metals, minerals, pesticides, mining waste, salinity, and pharmaceuticals could affect water quality in Colorado. When asked about which societal sector or condition was most responsible for existing water quality problems, residents identified wastes from urban areas (44%), industry (38%), drought (36%), and mining (35%) as the most responsible.
In considering ways to protect and preserve water resources in Colorado, many respondents stated they have changed their landscaping practices (73%), their home water use (68%), their purchases and installation of water saving devices (68%) or how they wash their vehicle (50%).
On the subject of educational opportunities, Colorado residents preferred to read fact sheets, newspaper articles, and/or visit Web sites over all other types of venues (Figure 2). Residents also indicated they were most interested in learning about protecting drinking water (55%), watershed management (34%), water policy (33%), community actions on water issues (33%), and water needs for fish and wildlife (33%).
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Several key programming needs identified by the survey indicate educational opportunities exist concerning the conditions affecting water quality and drinking water in Colorado. Furthermore, the finding that residents were more likely to engage in passive types of educational opportunities such as publications and Web sites, indicate that barriers to more active educational settings like workshops and trainings need to be addressed by organizations charged with educating Colorado residents about water resources.
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