Assessment of Citizen Perceptions and Knowledge for a Groundwater Monitoring Network Design
- Desert Research Inst. (DRI), Las Vegas, NV (United States)
A survey study was conducted as part of an effort to ensure monitoring systems are in place for protection of the health and safety of citizens and the environment in Nevada if the proposed Yucca Mountain repository becomes operational. The survey assessed citizen knowledge and concerns about groundwater resources and about a groundwater monitoring network for the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. Residents in Amargosa Valley, Beatty, and Pahrump in Nye County, Nevada, and in Death Valley in Inyo County, California, were solicited to participate in the survey study via mail. Their contact information was retrieved from the corresponding county assessor’s office, which was publically available upon request. The survey was developed in collaboration with the Nye County Nuclear Waste Project Office and was distributed to every home owner in Amargosa Valley and Death Valley and to selected home owners in Beatty and Pahrump. A total of 117 completed surveys were compiled for the analysis, of which 58 were from Amargosa Valley, 27 were from Beatty, two were from Death Valley, and 30 were from Pahrump. A series of statistical analyses were conducted between towns, genders, and age groups to investigate whether targeted communications for different groups would be necessary for a groundwater monitoring network to be effective. Content analyses were also conducted to better assess participants’ knowledge and concerns that close-ended questionnaires would have missed.The results of the survey study suggest that residents of Amargosa Valley are highly dependent on water directly retrieved from private wells. Even though they are less concerned about Yucca Mountain contaminating their groundwater resources than participants in Beatty and Pahrump (partially due to their familiarity with groundwater concepts and aquifer properties), the vulnerability of and concerns regarding water resources should be taken into account when developing and managing a groundwater monitoring network (GMN). Women are more worried about their water supply than men. Because familiarity with groundwater concepts and aquifer properties negatively correlates with such worries, it would be worthwhile to familiarize women with relevant concepts to alleviate their worries. Support for a GMN positively correlates with faith in technology. Thus, understanding technical aspects of a GMN might have a positive effect on the perceived value of a GMN to citizens in these communities.
- Research Organization:
- Desert Research Inst. (DRI), Las Vegas, NV (United States); Nevada Univ., Reno, NV (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Environmental Management (EM)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC52-06NA26383
- OSTI ID:
- 1466732
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/NV/--26383-12; 45231
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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