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Water Worries Deluge Environmental Concerns

Water Worries Deluge Environmental Concerns

by Darren K. Carlson

Environmental advocates seeking to drum up support for their cause may want to consider talking less about issues such as the greenhouse effect and the ozone layer, and more about something closer to Americans' everyday lives: their water supply.

Gallup's March 2004 Environment poll* asked Americans to rate their level of worry about several possible environmental problems, and water-related issues top the list. Of the 10 items tested, three of the top four were solely water-related (the contamination of both soil and water by toxic waste is among the top four). Americans are significantly more worried about their water than they are about air pollution, plant and animal extinction, and the ozone layer.

Pollution of drinking water topped the list of environmental worries, with half (53%) of Americans saying they worry about it "a great deal" and another 24% saying they worry about it "a fair amount." The findings for this question are closely in line with results from 2003 and 2002, but concern about the pollution of drinking water is substantially lower than it was in 2000, when 72% worried a great deal about it.

Pollution of rivers, lakes, and reservoirs also worries the public, but not to the degree that it has in the past. While 48% of Americans worry about the pollution of bodies of water a great deal and 31% worry about it a fair amount, in 1989, the issue worried 72% of Americans a great deal and 19% were worried a fair amount. The current level of worry is the lowest Gallup has recorded in the 15 years it has asked this question.

The Water Supply

Like the other water-related environmental concerns, maintenance of the nation's supply of fresh water for household needs is a serious concern among Americans. Nearly half (47%) of the public is worried about it a great deal and another 25% is worried a fair amount. Unlike the other water-related issues, though, the level of serious concern about maintaining fresh water supplies is higher than it was at the beginning of the decade.

The Demographics of Water Worry

The environment remains a stronghold political issue for the Democratic Party, so it is not surprising to find that Democrats express a greater degree of worry than Republicans do when it comes to solely water-related environmental issues. On all measures, Democrats are about twice as likely as Republicans to say they worry a great deal.

The data also show that people with higher incomes are less likely to worry about water-related issues than those with lower incomes are. Americans with annual household incomes of $75,000 or more are least likely to worry a great deal about water pollution. Concern is highest among those with annual incomes of $30,000 or less. However, those in lower-income groups are more likely than those in higher-income groups to worry a great deal about environmental issues in general.

*Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,005 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted March 8-11, 2004. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the margin of sampling error is ±3 percentage points.


Gallup https://news.gallup.com/poll/11227/Water-Worries-Deluge-Environmental-Concerns.aspx
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