Direct potable water recycling in Texas: case studies and policy implications

ABSTRACT

Direct potable water recycling (DPR) is increasingly recognized as an important strategy in the face of water shortage. DPR often is challenged by a lack of public support and in some cases has been overturned by public opposition alone. Severe drought in Texas in recent years has resulted in several cities in that state considering and passing DPR policies for the first time in the United States. We present three case studies–two from cities that passed and implemented DPR policies and one that considered and ultimately tabled a DPR plan. We use multiple data sources including public surveys and policy maker interviews, newspaper articles, and city meeting minutes to examine the discourse on these policies in public, media, and political spheres. Importantly, we explore the connection between regulatory, structural, environmental, political, and communication factors in each case as they intersect with public attitudes, including expressions of disgust and perceived risk which have featured in experimental research on perceptions of water recycling. By exploring these factors holistically, we are able to examine some of the ways these public attitudinal factors interact in real-world contexts with implications for future policy making and studies of local decision-making under uncertainty.

KEYWORDS:

• Water reuse
• water recycling
• public attitudes
• water policy
• decision making

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributors

Julia Wester is an interdisciplinary environmental scientist and educator. Her research explores social-ecological systems through the lens of the worldviews, values, attitudes, and emotions that shape our relationship with the natural world. She received her Ph.D in environmental science and policy from the University of Miami in 2016. She is an adjunct professor at the University of Miami’s Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy and is director of an interdisciplinary environmental research and education non-profit, Field School Foundation.

Kenny Broad is an environmental anthropologist who studies the relationship between humans and their environment. He received his Ph.D. in anthropology from Columbia University in 1999. Kenny has led or participated in scientific and filmmaking expeditions on every continent. He is a professor in the Department of Marine Ecosystems and Society at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and is Director of the University’s Abess Center for Ecosystem Science. He also Co-Directs the Center for Research on Environmental Decisions at Columbia University. Broad was chosen as the 2011 National Geographic Explorer of the Year.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Science Foundation [grant number EFRI1038257, NSF-SES #0951516].