Abstract
Water is an unpredictable and often overallocated resource in the American West, one that strains policy makers to come up with viable, and politically acceptable policies to mitigate water management concerns. While large federal reclamation projects once dominated western water management and provided ample water for large scale agricultural development as well as the urbanization of the West, water engineering alone is no longer sufficient or, in some cases, a politically acceptable policy option. As demand for water in the West increases with an ever-growing population, climate change is presenting a more challenging and potentially untenable, reality of even longer periods of drought and insufficient water quantity. The complexity of managing water resources under climate change conditions will require multifaceted and publicly acceptable strategies. This paper therefore examines water policy preferences of residents in four western states: Washington, Oregon, California, and Idaho. Using a public survey conducted in these states in 2019, we examine preferences pertaining to infrastructural, education, incentives and regulation specifically examining levels of support for varying policies based on climate change and environmental efficacy beliefs as well as geography, demographic variables, and political ideology. Results show support for all water policies surveyed, with the exception of charging higher rates for water during the hottest part of summer. The most preferred water policies pertained to tax incentives. Some variation of support exists based on gender, education, environmental values, efficacy, state residency and belief in anthropogenic climate change.
Highlights
Accepted: 29 June 2021Water in the American west has long been a contested resource
The federal reclamation projects developed by the U.S Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S Army Corp of Engineers to quell the thirst of the arid West and to provide water for agriculture and household use was very successful in facilitating western land settlement
Idaho respondents (x = 3.63) were the second most likely to support the building of dams and reservoirs with Oregon (x = 3.37) and Washington (x = 3.34) respondents slightly in favor of dams with mean scores barely above “neutral.” Support for building pipelines to bring water from other regions is not supported by Oregon respondents (x = 2.67), and
Summary
Accepted: 29 June 2021Water in the American west has long been a contested resource. The unpredictable and often overallocated resource strains policy makers to come up with viable, and politically acceptable, policies to mitigate water management concerns. The federal reclamation projects developed by the U.S Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S Army Corp of Engineers to quell the thirst of the arid West and to provide water for agriculture and household use was very successful in facilitating western land settlement (notably the land was already occupied by Indigenous people) Somewhat perversely, those same projects that helped to deliver water to users, produce energy, and provide the illusion of consistent and predictable water availability are being significantly challenged to meet the needs of continued energy expansion, agricultural irrigation, household use, and industrial use while complying with environmental laws that necessitate adequate and clean water for ecosystems, species, and consumption. In 2019, the eleven western states experienced a 38.3% population increase [6]
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