UF/IFAS study: Public concerned about water for golf

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — In a university news release authored by Laura Bernheim, the results of a new University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences‘ Center for Public Issues Education (PIE Center) water survey suggest Floridians are more concerned about water availability for recreation and golfing than for use in gardens and lawns.

PIE Center researcher Alexa Lamm, also an assistant professor of public opinion analysis in the UF/IFAS Department of Agricultural Education and Communication, surveyed members of the public and asked them to assign levels of importance to needs such as clean drinking water, plentiful water for cities and more.

When asked to rank where water was most needed, state residents left their landscaping at the bottom of the list; 60.7 percent of surveyed citizens said having enough water for household landscaping was either highly or extremely important.

Agriculture held the highest need for plentiful water, with 88.6 percent of respondents saying it was extremely or highly important. Recreation followed at 86.1 percent and golf courses at almost 84.8 percent. Commerce and industry ranked ahead of landscaping, as did freshwater resources and cities.

“People are more concerned with recreation activities and golf courses than they are with their own personal household landscapes,” Lamm says. “Water conservation efforts have been occurring and more people are more aware that their landscape doesn’t need as much water as they once thought.”

When compared to the needs of cities, commerce and recreation, Lamm speculates that Floridians seemed to be sacrificing their gardens for the greater good of the state.

“If you think about Florida’s economy, a lot of it is driven by tourism, which we associate with recreation and golfing,” she says. “As people think about their own livelihoods and the economy, perhaps they’re associating that having plentiful water for the resources that ensure a stronger economy is more important than having enough for their own personal landscapes.”

Lamm and PIE Center Director Tracy Irani plan to conduct quarterly surveys that measure the Florida public’s opinions on issues such as immigration as well as invasive and endangered species. The opinion polls will be repeated annually to track the changes over time.

“Let’s say in another year the economy in the state of Florida has rebounded, and then more people are more concerned about their personal landscapes,” Lamm says. “The climate can change a lot.”