Sponsor
The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This material is based upon work supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant 2222152, The Nature Conservancy, the Community-Engaged Research Academy, and the Faculty Enhancement Grant at Portland State University.
Published In
Frontiers in Environmental Science
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
7-14-2024
Subjects
Water supply, Water demand management, Water -- Distribution
Abstract
As legal battles over surface water allocation in Klamath County, Oregon, USA have gained national attention, earning the name “Water Wars,” authorities have been increasingly turning to groundwater to compensate for water shortfalls. This case study aims to identify the nuanced perspectives of household groundwater well users who are affected by groundwater extraction. Using Q methodology, we uncover groundwater well users’ perceptions and to what extent they think water problems are dealt with fairly. We identify four water perspectives that differ in the degree to which respondents prioritize clean water accessibility, industry accountability, individual responsibility for water management, and trust in governments to manage water competently. This research contributes to the growing body of literature reshaping our understanding of human-water relations by exploring different water axiologies.
Rights
Copyright © 2024 Haeffner, Cowal, Walker and McClellan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Locate the Document
DOI
10.3389/fenvs.2024.1398439
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/42329
Citation Details
Haeffner, M., Cowal, J., Walker, B., & McClellan, C. (2024). When overextended surface allocation turns to groundwater: a Q methodology of well users in Oregon’s high desert. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 12.