Over the past few decades, watershed groups have become important actors in efforts to preserve and restore water quality. This new paradigm of watershed management is based largely on citizen participation. Local citizens and stakeholders are essential members of watershed groups because they can provide localized information about the area’s natural and sociopolitical systems, as well as support for measures to address nonpoint source pollution. But not all watershed groups are equally successful in attracting and maintaining active citizen participation. This research examines citizen participation in collaborative watershed groups from the perspective of citizen participants.
As public organizations, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, become more and more dependent on these locally-based watershed groups to address nonpoint source pollution, it is essential to understand why citizens participate with watershed groups if they are to attract new participants. Previous studies have highlighted specific demographic characteristics, motivations, and characteristics of the group itself thought to affect stakeholder participation. In addition, scholarship has examined watershed groups. Using a mixture of these theoretical propositions provides a more accurate depiction of citizen participation in collaborative watershed groups.
Methods of this research consist of qualitative interviews and a quantitative survey. In-person and telephone interviews were conducted with watershed group coordinators. These group leaders have direct contact with group members, providing them with valuable knowledge of members’ demographic characteristics and insight as to which members are the most active and why they are the most active. During the interviews, coordinators were presented with open-ended questions to capture their point of view on citizen participation in their groups. In addition, approximately 500 surveys were distributed to members of twelve watershed groups throughout Ohio to obtain members’ perspectives on the group in which they participate. Four citizen-based, four mixed, and four government-based groups were selected as the population from which the survey sample was drawn.
Analysis focuses on participation as a function of individual and group characteristics. Regression modeling illustrates that a variety of individual and group characteristics influence not only the mean number of hours a member volunteers to his or her group per month, but also the total number of activities in which he or she is involved. From the survey data, it appears that a significant proportion of stakeholders are not actively participating with watershed groups; only 60% of citizen respondents indicated that they had participated, on average, some number of hours above zero per month with the group in the past year. Survey data also indicate that stakeholders are devoting the most time to general group meetings and education/outreach events, while other group activities are experiencing low stakeholder participation.