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The Voter – Policymaker Divide on Water

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A poll conducted in November discovered that California voters have a distinctly different view from environmental and political leadership on how to address the future of water.

Dr. Adam Probolsky, president of Probolsky Research presented the poll results at the California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy (CFEE) Water Conference in Indian Wells which included some of the state’s top elected officials and advocacy groups leadership.

Surface storage (dams and reservoirs) are supported by seventy-two percent of voters.

Ocean water desalination is supported by seventy-seven percent of the voters.

The real number is closer to 80% of the state’s water supply going to agricultural use.

All this adds up to a challenge for the environmental community that is largely opposed to dams and desalination. It may also be an opportunity for supporters of new water infrastructure. They may use these voter sentiments in how they approach funding.

A more complete look at the polling data on water policy can be found here.

Infrastructure = Trust

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It’s easy for local government to get caught up in the narrative that all government is wasteful or corrupt or both. Those of us involved in local government know that neither is largely true, but how can we overcome this perception?

Build something permanent.

When you build something that the taxpayers can see, touch, or walk on, you are building trust. When you build something that is going to last 40 years or longer, you are building trust.

Adam Probolsky recently spoke about this at the Southern California Water Coalition.

Adam Probolsky at Southern California Water Coalition

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Adam Probolsky spoke on a panel at the Southern California Water Coalition on January 24, 2020 about the politics of water. He explained the changes we’ve seen in how voters view government and institutions since 2016. Watch here:

Southern California Water Utilities Association Presentation

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Adam Probolsky spoke to the Southern California Water Utilities Association today. The topic: the role of public opinion research in communicating with customers and the public. He shared the results of our most recent national polling on how to best connect with the public.

This includes determining the best:

  • Message
  • Messenger
  • Medium

Here’e some video from the presentation:

Adam also did his best to assuage the audience of the decades-long notion that engineers are bad communicators. He encouraged water leaders to have their agencies weigh in to relevant social media conversations.

You can view the presentation here.