June 8, 2007

While 91% of Nebraska residents feel their drinking water is safe, they still want to learn more about water, according to the Heartland Regional Water Coordination Initiative Survey of Public Perceptions and Attitudes about Water.

The survey, mailed in February 2006 to 325 randomly selected households in Nebraska, asked respondents 38 questions about their feelings toward water quality concerns to build knowledge of citizen awareness, attitudes and willingness to act on water issues. Results are based on 209 responses.

Charles Wortmann, UNL nutrient management specialist, said the opinions expressed and the high response rate indicate considerable interest and concern about water issues, along with a desire for more information.

"Basically, this survey helps us recognize and understand how people see situations, their concerns and where they get and how they prefer to get their information," said Wortmann, who along with Rick Koelsch, UNL livestock bioenvironmental engineer, was on the initiative's leadership team.

The Heartland Regional Water Coordination Initiative is a partnership of UNL, Iowa State University, Kansas State University, the University of Missouri, U.S. Department of Agriculture Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region VII. Similar reports also were prepared for Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and the four-state region.

Prioritizing Water Issues

Of water issues important to Nebraskans, all respondents felt clean drinking water was extremely or very important, followed by 97% saying clean groundwater was extremely or very important. Water for households and the private sector, clean rivers and lakes also were highly valued. Forty-one% felt water for recreation was either extremely important or very important.

While 91% of respondents felt their home drinking water was safe to drink, about 69% were satisfied with their drinking water. A quarter have a water filter system and 35% have a water treatment system. A little more than 30% often used bottled water for drinking, while 13% were not satisfied with their current drinking water.

Perception of Ag's Role

Wortmann said results also revealed Nebraskans perceive most pollution comes from cropland or livestock production facilities.

Fourteen percent of respondents felt fertilizers and nitrates were known to affect water quality in Nebraska, while 42% suspected it affected water quality in Nebraska. Other conditions believed by respondents to be a problem were pesticides, 9% known problem, 33% suspected; minerals, 9% known, 25% suspected; and animal waste, 5% known, 26% suspected. For all of these conditions, except fertilizer/nitrates, between one-third and one-half of respondents said they didn't know whether any of these conditions affected their water quality.

Respondents also were asked to identify the top three sectors or infrastructures they thought were most responsible for the state's pollution. Two of the top three were agriculturally based — crop production and livestock and/or poultry operations. The third infrastructure thought to be most responsible for existing pollution problems in rivers and lakes was water from urban areas.

Fifty percent of those who live on farms felt crop production was most responsible, and 56% of those who live on farms felt livestock and/or poultry operations were to blame. Fifty-nine percent of those who live inside a town or city and 66% of those who live in a rural area not on a farm also felt this way about crop production, while 57% of those who live inside a town or city and 63% of those who live in a rural area not on a farm felt this way about livestock and/or poultry operations. However, the survey also found those who lived on farms do more to conserve or protect water quality, such as changing pesticide and fertilizer use, testing drinking water or changing the way their yard was landscaped.

"Another interesting finding was who people saw as being responsible for ensuring we have clean water," Wortmann said.

With urban dwellers, most thought state or local government should be most responsible for protecting local water quality, while those who lived on farms felt it was an individual responsibility.

"Both urban and rural and rural-non farm people view issues similarly, but there are issues they don't agree on. Knowing this information will allow groups to find the problem and find a common agreement," Morton said.

Nebraskans want more information on drinking water and human health, Wortmann said. The farm population also wants more information on agricultural water management, irrigation management, pesticide management and how to better handle manure, while the rural non-farm residents are very interested in private well and septic tank management.

"The biggest finding for the entire population as a whole was that many Nebraskans have given a great deal of thought to water and environmental issues," Wortmann said.For complete survey results, visit the Web at http://www.heartlandwq.iastate.edu. This survey is part of a national project conducted by Robert Mahler, professor of soil and environmental sciences at the University of Idaho. The project was funded by USDA CSREES.

Sandi Alswager Karstens
IANR News