Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


MB Thesis.pdf (5.36 MB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

A Multilevel Analysis of Social, Built, and Natural Drivers of Household Water Use in Northern Utah

Barnett, Matthew J.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1524163716518209

Abstract Details

2018, Master of Science, Ohio State University, Environment and Natural Resources.
Communities across the American West face growing challenges managing their water resources in the face of rapid population growth and advancing climate change. In response, public water system managers and policymakers often focus on policies and programs to educate and incentivize individuals to voluntarily reduce their water use. However, broader structural factors often constrain the ability of individuals to reduce their household water use. I estimated multilevel models using metered residential water use data in conjunction with data from a large 2014 neighborhood survey to predict levels of indoor and outdoor water use for a sample of single-family detached housing from 20 Northern Utah neighborhoods. Results suggest that the attitudes, perceptions, and concerns of respondents were poor predictors of both indoor and outdoor water use. Indoor water use was primarily driven by sociodemographic characteristics such as household size, rental status, length of residency, income, and education, though some self-reported indoor conservation behaviors (buying low water use appliances and taking fewer or shorter showers) were associated with lower indoor water use. Meanwhile, outdoor water use was found to be largely driven by characteristics of the built environment (lot size, irrigation system technology) and the average cost of water. Outdoor water use was found to have a significantly greater amount of neighborhood-level variation than indoor water use. Secondary water use aggregated at the neighborhood level explained a significant amount of the neighborhood-level variance in outdoor water use above and beyond household-level secondary water use. These findings have important implications for public water managers and public policymakers in the study region and beyond as they grapple with difficult decisions related to water demand in the coming decades.
Douglas Jackson-Smith, PhD (Committee Chair)
Kerry Ard, PhD (Committee Member)
Jeffrey Jacquet, PhD (Committee Member)
120 p.
Environmental Management; Natural Resource Management; Sociology; Water Resource Management
household water use; indoor water use; outdoor water use; metered water use; multilevel model; survey research

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Barnett, M. J. (2018). A Multilevel Analysis of Social, Built, and Natural Drivers of Household Water Use in Northern Utah [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1524163716518209

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Barnett, Matthew. A Multilevel Analysis of Social, Built, and Natural Drivers of Household Water Use in Northern Utah. 2018. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1524163716518209.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Barnett, Matthew. "A Multilevel Analysis of Social, Built, and Natural Drivers of Household Water Use in Northern Utah." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1524163716518209

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1524163716518209
494
© 2018, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.