Incorporating Social Context Variables Into Paired Watershed Designs to Test Nonpoint Source Program Effectiveness1 |
| |
| Authors: | Linda Stalker Prokopy Z. Asligül Göçmen Jing Gao Shorna Broussard Allred Joseph E. Bonnell Kenneth Genskow Alicia Molloy Rebecca Power |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Respectively, Associate Professor, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, 195 Marsteller Street, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907;2. Assistant Professor, Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Wisconsin‐Madison, Madison, Wisconsin;3. Graduate Student, University of Wisconsin‐Madison, Madison, Wisconsin;4. Associate Professor, Department of Natural Resources, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York;5. Program Director for Watershed Management, Ohio State University Extension, Columbus, Ohio;6. Watershed Planning Specialist, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana;7. Co‐Director, Great Lakes Regional Water Program, Environmental Resources Center, University of Wisconsin‐Extension, Madison, Wisconsin |
| |
| Abstract: | Prokopy, Linda Stalker, Z. Asligül Göçmen, Jing Gao, Shorna Broussard Allred, Joseph E. Bonnell, Kenneth Genskow, Alicia Molloy, and Rebecca Power, 2011. Incorporating Social Context Variables Into Paired Watershed Designs to Test Nonpoint Source Program Effectiveness. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 47(1):196‐202. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2010.00508.x Abstract: In a traditional paired watershed study, watersheds are selected to be as similar as possible so that conclusions may be drawn about the performance of Best Management Practices. We have extended the paired watershed concept to examine the effectiveness of watershed management programs by adding comparative criteria for social characteristics. For four different 8 or 11/12 digit hydrologic unit code (HUC) watersheds in the Midwest, we have piloted a systematic method for selecting paired subwatersheds. First, we developed a list of 11 key variables. Next, a factor analysis was conducted to determine the underlying structure of the 11 input variables. Finally, in each of the four watersheds, potential paired subwatersheds (all 14 digit HUCs) were selected using the factors in a cluster analysis. Informal interviews were then held with key informants in each watershed to provide qualitative assessments of criteria that could impact the comparability of the subwatersheds. This method for selecting paired watersheds should be helpful for other researchers to test the effectiveness of watershed management programs focused on behavior change. |
| |
| Keywords: | social indicators watershed planning outreach and education nonpoint source pollution.) |
|
|
