The majority of residents of the Pacific Northwest have made an effort to conserve household water use and correctly dispose of spent household chemicals. Almost 80 percent of Pacific Northwest residents use at least one water saving appliance in their home (Table 1). Over two-thirds of the region’s residents also report that they have made an effort to reduce their overall household water use. Sixty percent of residents have reduced the amount of water and/or chemicals they use in their yard in the past 10 years. Forty-three percent of residents report that they use less water washing their car today compared to 10 years ago. Over 60 percent of residents also report that they protect water quality by recycling used motor oil and correctly dispose of household chemicals. Female respondents were more likely than males to have participated in water conservation efforts. Table 1. Water conservation and preservation efforts identified by residents of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington in the water issues survey. Effort Percentage of respondents Use of a water saving appliance 78 Reduced household water use 68 Reduced water and/or chemical use in yards 60 Conserving water when washing car 43 Recycle used motor oil 62 Correctly dispose of chemicals 69 One-third of the residents of the Pacific Northwest have participated in environmental activities more than once (Table 2). Forty-four percent of residents have never participated in an environmental activity. Residents that have attended college for at least two years are more than twice as likely to have participated in an environmental activity. The PNW Water Survey A 50-question survey was developed by the Pacific Northwest water quality team to document public awareness, aptitudes, attitudes and actions toward water quality in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Demographic data about the survey respondents were also collected. This statistically designed survey was completed by over 50 percent of the 1,800 residents who were solicited for this study. Several questions in this survey dealt with peoples' actions toward water resources. The sampling error of these survey questions was +/- 3 percent.

Pacific Northwest Regional Water Quality Coordination Project Partners Land Grant Universities Alaska Cooperative Extension Service Contact Fred Sorensen: 907-786-6311 http://www.uaf.edu/ces/water/ University Publications: http://www.alaska.edu/uaf/ces/publications/ Idaho University of Idaho Cooperative Extension System Contact Bob Mahler: 208-885-7025 http://www.uidaho.edu/wq/wqhome.html University Publications: http://info.ag.uidaho.edu/Catalog/catalog.html Oregon Oregon State University Extension Service Contact Mike Gamroth: 541-737-3316 http://extension.oregonstate.edu/ University Publications: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/ Washington Washington State University WSU Extension Contact Bob Simmons: 360-427-9670 ext. 690 http://wawater.wsu.edu/ University Publications: http://pubs.wsu.edu/ Northwest Indian College Contact Charlotte Clausing: 360-392-4319 cclausing@nwic.edu or http://www.nwic.edu/ Water Resource Research Institutes Water and Environmental Research Center (Alaska) http://www.uaf.edu/water/ Idaho Water Resources Research Institute http://www.boise.uidaho.edu/ Institute for Water and Watersheds (Oregon) http://water.oregonstate.edu/ State of Washington Water Research Center http://www.swwrc.wsu.edu/ Environmental Protection Agency EPA, Region 10 The Pacific Northwest http://www.epa.gov/r10earth/ Office of Research and Development, Corvallis Laboratory http://www.epa.gov/wed/ For more information contact Jan Seago at 206-553-0038 or seago.jan@epa.gov
	Table 2. Participation frequency in environmental activities by residents of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington in the water issues survey. Activity frequency Percentage of respondents Yes, often 5 Yes, more than once 28 Yes, once 14 I'm not sure 8 No, never 44 First hand observation appears to have the greatest impact on how a resident of the region views an environmental issue (Table 3). Almost 60 percent of the region’s residents report that personal conversations have an important influence on how they view an environmental issue. News coverage of an environmental issue has influenced the views of almost half of adults in the Pacific Northwest. Classes, presentations and financial considerations have influenced environmental views by 38 percent of respondents. Public meetings have influenced 27 percent of respondents. Speeches by elected officials had the least impact as only 11 percent of respondents reported being influenced in this manner. Table 3. The influence of media, educational opportunities and oberservation on the changing opinions about environmental issues based on the water issues survey. Resulted in opinion change Percentage of respondents Observation 75 Conversations 59 News coverage 49 Classes / presentations 38 Financial considerations 38 Attending public meetings 27 Speech by elected official 11 The data presented in this update shows that people in the Pacific Northwest have and are taking actions to conserve and protect their water resources.
	This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U. S. Department of Agriculture, under Agreement No 2008-51130-4734.

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HOME | About | Calendar | Contacts | Links | PNW Water Updates | Sitemap NIFA National Water Quality Program This material is based upon work supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Agreement No. 2008-51130-04734. all external sites will open in a new browser window page last modified on August 27, 2006