Where Westerners Agree and Disagree on Key Water Issues — Water Deeply

Here’s an interview with Wade Crowfoot from Mitch Tobin that’s running in Water Deeply. Click through and read the whole article. Here’s an excerpt:

A new poll commissioned by the Water Foundation looks at the views of residents of 12 Western states on a range of water issues, including climate change, policy and cost, explains Wade Crowfoot, the foundation’s chief executive.

WHAT DO WESTERNERS think about water issues? What worries them? What policies do they support? Where is there consensus and division?

To answer these questions, the Water Foundation recently commissioned a wide-ranging public opinion survey of voters in 12 Western states. The poll covered diverse topics, including general awareness of water issues, opinions on policy measures, perceptions about the value of water, and beliefs about both weather and climate change.

To learn more about the poll’s motivation, findings and implications, I recently interviewed Water Foundation chief executive Wade Crowfoot.

Mitch Tobin: What were the key takeaways from the poll? What was most striking or surprising?

Wade Crowfoot: Based on conventional wisdom about Western water involving a lot of conflict, I thought that there would be sharp disagreements about water issues in the poll. So I was really surprised that across 12 states and different demographic groups, a lot of similarity exists in perceptions of water issues.

The poll showed that across the region, Westerners believe that water supplies are becoming less predictable each year. But these folks also believe there is enough water for all users: cities, farms, recreation and the environment. Westerners are also strong on the need to modernize infrastructure, and actually willing to pay higher water bills for infrastructure investment. Strong majorities across the West support the idea of paying more on their water bill if it can deliver infrastructure that will secure reliable supplies of clean water in the future.