Research Proposal

Hamed Shirmohammadi

The objective of this research is to study the attitudes of people in Lubbock toward the city’s water issues. According to some reports Lubbock is among nine cities that are running out of water. A report by U.S. Drought Monitor shows that, among these nine cities, Lubbock has had the worst level of drought since the beginning of 2011 (Sauter & Hess, 2013). By 2014 either new water sources or aggressive water conservation is needed in order to maintain water supply during the summer and by 2025 the existing water supply sources will not be capable of supplying the water demand even if harsh conservation policies are adopted (City of Lubbock, 2013). Currently Lubbock has three water supply sources: Lake Alan Henry , Roberts County well field and Bailey County well field. The well fields are used to pump water up from the Ogallala Aquifer. Lake Alan Henry will run dry in ten years (Reed, 2012) and some studies show that the part of Ogallala which is located in Texas could be depleted in 50 years (Chow, 2013). Lubbock’s municipal authorities, denying these estimations, claim that the city has plans to supply water for the next 100 years. 

Lubbock is located in a historically dry area and the prolonged drought has worsened an already dire situation.  Decades of overuse by ranchers, cotton farmers, and fast-growing thirsty cities has depleted water sources. The oil industry's outsize demands on water for fracking has increased the depletion rates. And climate change is making things even worse. The record breaking heat waves in recent years have been further drying out the soil and speeding the evaporation of water in lakes and reservoirs (Goldenberg, 2013).

While there are multiple factors contributing to the current water crisis, it seems that at least in little cities near oil fields people tend to blame the situation on the oil industry ignoring the complexity of the situation (Goldenberg, 2013). Since there is no study on Lubbock residents’ perception toward the water crisis we do not know how people in Lubbock feel about the situation. The goal of this research is to fill this gap by conducting a study on Lubbock residents’ views on the water crisis. Three main questions are to be answered: First, do people think there is a water crisis? Second, if they think there is or will be a water shortage, what do they think has caused the shortage? Third, what measures do they think should be taken to preserve the diminishing water sources?
The study will compare the attitudes of men and women, Texan, non-Texan Americans and international students, and students and non-students toward the water crisis. Our hypotheses about the results of these comparisons are based on the following studies on people’s perceptions on environmental issues: First, studies that have examined the differences in attitudes of men and women toward environmental issues suggest that women are significantly more concerned about local environmental issues than men. Women have also been found to be more concerned about non-local environmental issues. However the magnitude of difference is not significant (Mohai, 1992). Second, education and Environmental concerns are tightly related. A study on “environmental attitudes and behaviors of American youth” shows that students who know “a lot” about the environment are considerably more likely to be worried about environment than students who have a very limited knowledge about environment, by a 67% to 31% margin (National Environmental Education And Training Foundation, 1994). Third, according to a study of people’s perception on water conservation, drought is a significant factor that increases people’s receptivity to water conservation (Sochacka, et al, 2013).

In the light of the information provided by above studies the following hypotheses are developed to be examined: First, women are significantly more likely to be concerned with local environmental issues than men. Local environmental issues are those issues that can pose a potential direct threat to Lubbock community, such as drought, fresh water supply and the effects of fracking. Second, global environmental problems, such as rising sea levels and global warming, concern women and men almost equally. Third, those who are aware of the existence of the severe drought in west Texas and are knowledgeable about Lubbock water are more likely to support water restrictions. Forth, Texans, unlike non-Texans, tend to oppose drastic conservation policies even if they are necessary. Fifth, the tie between education and environmental concerns suggests that students should have higher environmental awareness than non-students. Sixth, although students have higher environmental awareness, they are less emotionally concerned with the long term consequences of water crisis in Lubbock than residents are.  

Bibliography

City of Lubbock. (2013). Strategic Water Supply Plan for the City of Lubbock. My Lubbock. Retrieved September 18, 2013, from: http://www.mylubbock.us/docs/default-source/water-department-file-library/2013-strategic-water-supply-plan.pdf?sfvrsn=2 

Chow, D. (2013, August 26). Huge aquifer that runs through 8 states quickly being tapped out. LiveScience. Retrieved September 14, 2013, from: http://www.nbcnews.com/science/huge-aquifer-runs-through-8-states-quickly-being-tapped-out-8C11009320

Goldenberg, S. (2013, August 11). A Texan tragedy: ample oil, no water. The Guardian. Retrieved September 10, 2013, from: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/aug/11/texas-tragedy-ample-oil-no-water

Mohai, P. (1992). Men, women, and the environment: An examination of the gender gap in environmental concern and activism. Society & Natural Resources, Vol. 5, Iss. 1, pp. 1-19.

National Environmental Education and Training Foundation. (1994). Environmental Attitudes And Behaviors of American Youth. Retrieved November 20, 2013 From: http://eelink.net/ROPER/TOC.html

Reed, A. (2012, February 9). Lubbock water crisis, how did we get here? KCBD Retrieved September 20, 2013, from: http://www.kcbd.com/story/16903788/lubbocks-water-crisis-how-did-we-get-here

Sauter, M. B., & Hess, A. E. (2013, August 1). Nine cities running out of water. 24/7 Wall Street. Retrieved September 20, 2013, from: http:/247wallst.com/Special-report/2013/08/01/nine-cities-running-out-of-water

Sochacka, N.W., et al. (2013). Public perceptions of water availability and receptivity to water conservation in Georgia. Proceedings of the 2013 Georgia Water Resources Conference. Retrieved November 30, 2013, from: http://www.gwri.gatech.edu/sites/default/files/files/docs/2013/1.6.2_Sochacka.pdf