Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
The adoption of efficient technologies is critical not only for reducing
outdoor water use. Hard-wired efficiencies (that depend less on human perceptions
and management practices) are also important for conserving water indoors, espe-
cially in affluent areas with abundant consumer goods (e.g., appliances) and in
older neighborhoods with outdated infrastructure (e.g., toilets). Although financial
incentives or rebates could further encourage the adoption of conservation
techniques such as low-flow showerheads or efficient washing machines, simply
marketing 'innovative,' 'high-tech,' 'environmentally-friendly' technologies may
alone appeal (without financial incentives) to residents who are conscious about
their social identity or concerned about water conservation. This is particularly true
in wealthy high-demand neighborhoods, where social status may be more important
than the costs of conservation strategies. As a whole, since past survey research has
shown that residents express widespread, affective concern about water conserva-
tion and related environmental issues (Harlan et al.
2009
; Larson et al.
2011
),
conservation specialists could tap into latent concern about water use as they
encourage the adoption of more efficient practices and technologies.
In sum, the integration of diverse data sources in GIS allowed us to identify
areas where residents' perceptions, along with local housing, landscaping, and
social characteristics, can be best targeted to achieve water conservation in resi-
dential neighborhoods. Beyond the planning applications, our study advances
knowledge about human-environment interactions and also provides insights into
mixed-methods, socio-spatial research.
2.5.2 Methodological Challenges and Lessons Learned
Although mixed-methods research has proven worthwhile in validating re-
search and enhancing knowledge, obstacles must be overcome for integrated
analyses to reap the basic science and applied benefits they offer in fields such
as sustainable water governance. First, and perhaps most fundamentally, acqui-
ring data at identical temporal and spatial scales can be difficult given the dis-
parate sources of information that capture the relevant phenomena. In our study,
we were fortunate to gain access to metered water data for the same time period
as our social survey of perceptions, but the availability of water-use records only
at the aggregate scale limited our ability to analyze household-level water demand
in relation to residents' individual judgments in a spatially explicit manner.
Where such data are available, future studies should conduct additional integrated
analyses to improve understanding of how individuals' views correspond to and
influence actual household-level water demand, both in general and across varying
geographic scales and contexts. Especially because the relationship between attitu-
dinal judgments and behavioral outcomes is complex and often tenuous, mixed-
methods analyses at multiple scales is essential for advancing knowledge about
where and why cognition and actual conditions (or, in other words, attitudes
