Public knowledge of water resources as a product of multiple information providers

Many barriers can separate the public from potentially useful information about the local environment. I focus on the role interactions among organizations play in shaping public understanding of water resource issues in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona. Within an environmental justice framework, I seek to understand: (1) the geographic distribution of water education effort (2) the evenness with which information translates into knowledge, and (3) the roles organizational networks play in public perceptions of each organization's usefulness. To address these objectives, this research uses participatory geographic information systems (GIS) methods, to delineate the spatial overlap of programs provided by all 39 organizations providing information about water conservation and quality. Maps designate census tracts as receiving "high" or "low" amounts of effort to provide public information. A survey of residents in four "high" effort and four "low" effort neighborhoods measured water knowledge, information perceptions, information preferences, and demographic characteristics. Finally, social network analysis examines the way the structure of ties between organizations could influence communication with the public. The results indicate that renters more likely than homeowners to live in areas targeted by high amounts of water information but that any effect of proximity to information on knowledge is lost after accounting for neighborhood demography and personal attributes. The relative ineffectiveness of communication strategies may be partially explained by low levels of information sharing between organizations that are popular information sources and those that are not as popular. The findings demonstrate ways in which overlapping program areas and information sharing between organizations may limit public awareness about water. The research is a unique consideration of spatial and ideological elements of public information as an environmental justice issue both in terms of how information creates knowledge and how it can legitimize particular audiences.