Extension social science research unpacks diverse water values and perspectives

Story by Anya Normandeau

The process of creating policies and procedures surrounding water and soil management is a bit more complex than one might imagine. Ideas are generated to correct water issues all while wondering about why these problems arise and how these policies affect those in every community. That is what Research and Extension Coordinator, Sarah Roth, looks for in her research as part of her position at the University of Minnesota Water Resources Center (WRC)

Roth wears two hats at the WRC; she conducts social science research regarding conservation behavior and decision making and administers several grant programs including Watershed Innovations (WINS) and national grant programs from the United States Geological Survey/National Institutes for Water Resources (USGS/NIWR).

Her role in grant administration includes coordinating the WINS grant program internally through all stages from developing the RFPs to administering awards to the winners. When helping with the grants from USGS, she takes on more of an assisting role from promoting RFP’s to helping fine tune proposals from others in the Center.

Sarah Roth facilitating a group discussion.

As the year goes on and time allows, she is able to focus on her passion in research and engagement with different groups of people.

Roth’s overall research goal is to understand human behavior, attitude, and values around environmental decision making, such as water and soil management. From taking a look at factors that influence a group of people’s choices to make environmentally friendly decisions, she is able to deliver data that could help Minnesota communities in many different ways.

Building off of a UMN news article, released in February, Roth co-authored  a study that took place in the Twin Cities Metro that looked at urban water and diverse water values, specifically, how water values vary across different sociodemographic characteristics. These characteristics include, gender identity, homeownership status, and race and ethnicity.

The research that she and her research team conducted helps analyze how water policies and programs can be more inclusive to all communities. They found many differences in their surveys depending on the area they looked at. During the pandemic, they had to use a mail survey and found that responses came mostly from those identifying as older white male homeowners.

Wanting a more diverse set of responses, they attended cultural and community events and surveyed participants onsite. The survey respondents included nearly 70% of individuals identifying as black, indigenous, or persons of color (BIPOC). Data showed this group of people tended to put more importance on holistic and cultural water values, such as wanting clean water for vegetable gardens, recreational activities, or religious practices. These are things that are not often considered in the policies and procedures about water management.

“We know that so many of our water policies and programs are written and managed by the so-called ‘dominant white’ culture” said Roth. “That is just one perspective of how people experience water and there are so many other perspectives and values out there.”

Currently, Roth is working on a long term study with farmers across the state of Minnesota. After mailing out a survey to 8,000 farmers across the state, she is hoping to better understand their experiences and attitudes towards keeping their soil healthy. This research is intended to find out the reasons behind farmers’ decisions about engaging in soil health practices and what sort of resources they need to adopt more of these practices.

The survey is “out in the field” currently and Roth expects to receive responses by late fall. After a few months of analysis researchers will have communication and presentations with natural resource agencies to share what farmers are experiencing and how they could improve programming and communication around these types of practices.

After about three to four years, Roth and her research team plan to reach out again to the same farmers as a follow up to see if anything has changed in their perspectives and attitudes towards soil health practices.

Read all about diverse water values and how people of different communities view important water management in the Twin Cities Metro at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08941920.2023.2278147. You can also stay up to date on the soil management farmer survey, or explore the WINS grant program.

Sarah Roth, University of Minnesota’s Water Resources Center

Sarah sitting on a rock

Sarah Roth is a research and extension coordinator for the Water Resources Center at the University of Minnesota. She received her undergraduate degree from her home state university, North Carolina State. She chose to attend the University of Minnesota to obtain her Master’s of Science in Natural Resource Science and Management and began working at the Center for Changing Landscapes (CCL) where she was completing similar research projects. For a couple of years, she worked on engagement and outreach at a watershed district in Minneapolis before transitioning back to the CCL and began her work at the WRC. She has always had a passion for research and working with people, so when she discovered this field at the end of her undergraduate degree, she knew it was the right path for her.

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