Flowing Perceptions: Exploring Secondary Students’ Perceptions of Water

Adolescents’ (i.e., high school students) opinions and preferences are important and less likely to be influenced by political and social norms, especially considering natural resource and climate related issues. Therefore, this study sought to identify and understand the perceptions of secondary students related to water issues and conservation practices utilizing a non-experimental survey research design. The majority (53.8%) of Oklahoma secondary students participating in this study believed water was of concern in the state. The primary water issues affecting Oklahoma according to secondary students ( n = 93) were clean drinking water, water for agriculture, water for aquatic habitats, wastewater treatment improvement, and water quality monitoring to detect pollution improvement. Students’ perceptions of water quantity and quality varied across groups based on their primary source of drinking water (i.e., Private Supply, Bottled Water, Municipal Public Supply, or Rural Public Supply). It is imperative for water-related curriculum to be developed for delivery in secondary classrooms across the state. Future research should consider the perceptions of students nationwide related to water and natural resource conservation.


Introduction and Problem Statement
Water is an essential resource which has an increasing demand (Wertz & Layden, 2013), making the conservation of water a pivotal issue (Chaudhary et al., 2019;Hurd, 2006).Eighty percent of state water managers in 2014 predicted shortages of freshwater in their respective states over the next decade (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2014).These predictions were further projected by Warziniack et al. (2022) to continually increase across the U.S. by 2050 with both socioeconomic and climate-related changes playing primary roles.This concern is further exacerbated by only 3% of the water on earth being freshwater (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 2020).In addition, groundwater only accounts for 0.62% of Earth's water, some of which is beyond the reach of water extraction (U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, 2020).When considering water usage, agriculture alone utilizes nearly 80% of the water in the U.S. (National Institute of Food and Agriculture, 2023), increasing the need for public education and engagement related to water conservation (Mulki et al., 2018), especially considering the increasing impact of climate change on water availability (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2023).The public's perceptions of water and conservation efforts have been investigated over the years in many states.The opinions and preferences of these demographics were important, but adolescents (i.e., high school students) are less likely to be influenced by political and social norms, especially considering natural resource and climate related issues (Flora et al., 2014;Stevenson et al., 2014).Balundė et al. (2020) found adolescents value environmental and climate related concerns with minimal traditional social norms, yet Perry et al. (2021) found social media and online communities to play a key role in influencing adolescent perceptions.Therefore, this study sought to identify the perceptions of secondary students related to water issues and conservation practices to better inform formal and informal educational practices related to water and agriculture.

Theoretical and Conceptual Framework
This study was undergirded by the theory of planned behavior (TPB), identifying the attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs related to water in Oklahoma (Ajzen, 1991).The attitude (favorable or unfavorable) and intentions toward a behavior can help researchers predict one's actions (Ajzen, 1991), which in the case of this study relate to water usage and conservation efforts as the behavior.Although most secondary students are not at the age of decision making or voting yet, they are the future workforce and stewards of the United States; therefore, understanding their attitudes, intentions, and current behaviors is essential in considering the future needs of water related education and outreach.Ultimately, this study aligns with the United Nations (2015) goal of improving water quality, water use efficiency, and the integration of water management programs to achieve equitable access to safe drinking water for all by 2030, with an emphasis on understanding the perceptions and needs of primary consumers by 2030 (i.e., current secondary students).Within the context of this study, TPB can be further conceptualized with the value-belief-norm theory (Stern et al., 1999), which evaluates normative considerations in relationship to an individual's awareness of an environmental problem (i.e., water), their perception of making an impact on the issue, and personal norms associated with the problem (see Figure 1).

Conceptual Model of The Value-Belief-Norm Theory for Water Related Behaviors
In addition to the theory and conceptual model presented, this study was framed by the National Water Survey Needs Assessment Program, which began in the Pacific Northwest in 2001 "to assess public aptitudes, attitudes, and actions relative to water issues" (Mahler et al., 2013, p. 99).The factors measured through the National Water Survey Needs Assessment Program align with TPB (Ajzen, 1991) and the conceptual model presented (see Figure 1), leading the program to conduct studies in the Northeast, North-Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, South-Central, and Midwest regions over time.The National Water Survey Needs Assessment Program focused on public perceptions, with the majority of respondents being over 50 years of age (Mahler et al., 2013).Considering future decisions regarding water needs, quality, and quantity will be heavily influenced by future generations, the perceptions of secondary students allow researchers to evaluate future water related behavior (Ajzen, 1991;Stern et al., 1999).Since the aim of the National Water Survey Needs Assessment is to establish a survey for baseline data collection on water issues on a state basis (Mahler et al., 2013), the survey was used for this study.

Purpose
This study aims to determine the perceptions of water issues in Oklahoma from the standpoint of students enrolled in secondary schools across the state.Four research objectives guided this inquiry: 1. Determine secondary students' perceptions of primary water issues affecting Oklahoma.2. Identify the perceptions of water quantity and quality amongst Oklahoma secondary students.3. Identify the water conservation efforts of secondary students and their families in Oklahoma.4. Establish the primary areas of water related educational interest for secondary students in Oklahoma.

Methods
To evaluate secondary students' perceptions of water issues across Oklahoma, a 43-item survey was adapted from the National Water Needs Assessment Program (Mahler et al., 2013).The survey questionnaire included four sections addressing perceptions of environmental issues (27-items, e.g.perceptions of water related issues), water issues (10-items, e.g.sources of water, water quantity, water quality, and pollutants), water knowledge (4-items, e.g.water usage and conservation), and learning preferences (2-items, e.g. interest in water education).In addition, five demographic questions were asked, including, sex, age, grade level, class enrollment, and school classification.The survey was evaluated for face and content validity (Privitera, 2020) appropriate to a secondary student demographic by two faculty members in agricultural education teacher preparation.
There are roughly 257,000 eighth through twelfth grade students enrolled in Oklahoma public schools, although only about 60% of secondary schools have agricultural education programs in the state, reaching approximately 27,000 students (Oklahoma FFA Association, 2023).Two public school districts with agricultural education programs were randomly selected from each region of the state (i.e., Southeast, Southwest, Central, Northeast, and Northwest) with consideration given to school size classification (i.e., B, A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A, and 6A).Ten school superintendents were contacted to request participation from eighth through twelfth grade students in their district currently enrolled in agricultural education, environmental science, and/or earth science.Six of the superintendents responded to the request and agreed to distribute the survey questionnaire to their agricultural education, environmental science, and earth science teachers to request participation from their students using a Qualtrics survey questionnaire link.
Although 168 surveys were submitted, only 93 were received complete and used for data analysis.The participants were 48.4% female (n = 45), spanning from eighth through twelfth grade, with 43% only enrolled in either earth science or environmental science, while the remaining 57% were enrolled in both science and agriculture class at their respective schools.
Students from five of the school size classifications (i.e., B, A, 3A, 4A, and 6A) participated.Survey distribution was a limiting factor within this study as it relied on superintendent agreement, followed by distribution to teachers from the school site administrator, then the individual teachers requesting participation from their students.Considering this, the demographics align with the statewide average where 49% of eighth through twelfth grade students are female (Oklahoma Department of Education, 2023) and schools from the smallest (B) to the largest (6A) classification were represented.
Data were analyzed using SPSS Version 28 for this survey research design study (Privitera, 2020).Specifically, descriptive statistics (i.e., frequencies and percentages) were ran to answer the four research objectives.

Findings
The first research objective aimed to determine the primary water issues affecting Oklahoma as perceived by secondary students.Just over half (53.8%) of Oklahoma secondary students participating in this study believed water was of concern in the state and nearly 30% were unsure, while over 61% did not know what a watershed was.
When participants were asked to rate 27 water issues on a four-point scale of agreement based on their perceived importance (i.e., 1 = not important, 4 = extremely important), clean drinking water was by far the most important issue followed by water for agriculture.Water transfer/sale of water rights and hypoxia were the lowest rated issues.The 27 water issues are provided in Table 1 with their corresponding percentage of agreement at each level (i.e., 1 = Identifying the perceptions of water quantity and quality amongst Oklahoma secondary students was the second research objective.A large percentage of participants reported purchasing bottled water as their primary source of drinking water (46.2%),followed by 28.0% utilizing their municipal public water supply, 18.3% drinking from their rural public water supply, and the remaining 7.5% utilizing a private supply (i.e., private well, river, pond, or lake).Most participants on a private water supply felt their home tap water was safe to drink (see Table 2).Approximately one-third of students who used bottled water as their primary source of drinking water felt their tap water was safe to drink (see Table 2), while over half of those on all other water supplies felt tap water was safe to consume.Most secondary students (>75%) perceived the quality of Oklahoma ground water as normal or better.Perceptions of surface water quality was much lower with a quarter to half of the student's feeling quality was poor or worse (see Table 2).Water quantity was of concern by over half of the participants in three of the four groups, those on a private supply were not concerned with water quantity.Table 2 outlines the percentages of responses related to water quality and quantity by primary drinking water source (i.e., private supply, bottled water, municipal public supply, or rural public supply).Most participants felt climate change would not change or increase their water availability, yet most students felt drought impacts would stay the same or increase (see Table 2).To further understand secondary student's perceptions of water quality, they were asked to identify pollutants impacting surface and/or groundwater across Oklahoma.While around half of the participants were unsure (see Table 3) of what containments impacted water quality, almost 50% felt pesticides were an issue and over 40% felt pathogens, fertilizers, metals, and turbidity were issues.Oil and gas production was by far the number one practice identified as impacting rivers lakes with almost two-thirds agreeing (see Table 3).The third research objective aimed to understand the water conservation efforts of secondary students and their families in Oklahoma.Specifically, students were asked to identify behavioral changes either they or their family did to conserve/preserve water.Changes in yard watering habits was the top conservation effort; however only one-third had made these changes.Less than 25% of students indicated a change in the use of pesticides, fertilizers, or other chemicals, or had adopted new technologies.Table 4 provides five potential behavioral changes and the corresponding responses.Additionally, participants were asked to identify where they stood on environmental issues, where zero was total natural resource use, and 10 was total environmental protection.Over half (55.5%) of the students identified themselves in the middle (i.e., 4 to 6 on the 10-point scale), trying to find balance between usage of natural resources and environmental protection.To provide a new water source, research is investigating the treatment of produced water from oil and gas production.Secondary students' most supported the reuse of produced water for agricultural production and to enhance stream flows; however, less than 50% supported these uses (see Table 5).Approximately one-third of students supported the use of produced water for drinking water or food production uses.The final research objective evaluated water related educational interests of secondary students across Oklahoma.Sixty-three percent have not participated in water related education, and the 37% percent who had, identified environmental science or oceanography classes as the education received.Table 6 depicts interest in 18 water-related topics.Students were by far the most interested in fish and wildlife water needs, while less than one-third were interested in other water related topics (see Table 6).

Conclusions, Discussion, and Recommendations
Essential water issues were clean drinking water, water for agriculture, wastewater treatment improvement, clean rivers and lakes, and the preservation of agricultural land and open spaces, with more than 90% of participating secondary students feeling these were important or extremely important.Clean drinking water was the primary concern, aligning with previous research on other groups (Eck et al., 2020).Similarly, water for agriculture was also the second priority for college students in Oklahoma, while the public perceived it as the fourth most important issue (Chapagain et al., 2020).Considering the impact of agriculture in the state, the need to consider water for agriculture is imperative.
Secondary students were generally unsure of the impacts of pollutants on surface and groundwater in the state.Perhaps this is a result of the lack of education related to water that participants reported, as 63% of students reported not receiving water education.Addressing this lack of knowledge is pivotal considering the necessity of water and its increasing demand (Chaudhary et al., 2019;Hurd, 2006;Wertz & Layden, 2013).Awareness of the problems associated with water, coupled with the identified impact students' personal decisions make on water quantity and quality (Stern et al., 1999) become driving forces in future water related behavioral changes (Ajzen, 1991;Stern et al., 1999).Considering the expressed interest in fish and wildlife water needs, water education programming could use this to generate engagement and establish awareness of water-related problems impacting rivers, lakes, and streams along with water and associated issues.Providing access to educational content could impact the future behaviors of students (Ajzen, 1991), especially considering their intention to find balance between natural resources and environmental protection, where problem awareness and outcome efficacy (see Figure 1) have been key predictors of behavioral change (Stern et al., 1999).
Perceptions of water quantity and quality varied across groups based on their source of drinking water (see Table 2).Perhaps these perceptions result from subjective norms (Ajzen, 1991) established at home regarding water quantity and quality, or could it be that awareness of the problem and efficacy to impact the problem is lacking (Stern et al., 1999).Considering the age of most participants, the ability to implement water conservation efforts are limited (i.e., perceived behavioral control) as they are not the homeowner or decision maker.Although interest in the beneficial uses of produced water existed, significant differences between students and the public were observed, with the public primarily supporting the industrial use of produced water (Chapagain et al., 2020).Perhaps students feel their potential impact is limited (i.e., outcome efficacy) due to personal norms or moral obligations they feel from authoritative sources (Stern et al., 1999;van der Werff & Steg, 2016).
Overall, students' responses indicate a general care for the environment and water-related issues (i.e., biospheric values), yet awareness of the water related problems is lacking (Stern et al., 1999) considering water quality and quantity concerns in Oklahoma.Therefore, it is imperative for water-related curriculum to be developed for delivery across the state by agricultural teachers, science teachers, and Extension educators.Specifically, topics aligning with content standards in earth science, environmental science, and agricultural courses should be developed to further water education across content areas.To further the potential behavioral change, the curriculum should be grounded in agriculture as a context given its impact on the water supply and its clear connection to science, providing a concrete example to real-world problems (Ricketts et al., 2006;Swafford, 2018).Considering adolescent development, curriculum should also be scaffolded for different age brackets, as content related to career opportunities should be developed for seventh and eighth grade students given the impact of career related decisions at that point in adolescence (Reynolds, 1991;Steinberg, 2014).In addition, STEM enhanced curriculum is critical in grades five through eight to promote continual achievement and interest in science and math (Singh et al., 2002).Finally, curriculum focused on behavioral change (Ajzen, 1991) is ideal during the developmental period between adolescence and adulthood (Rice & Dolgin, 2008).Water resource centers, water associations, and the National Water Survey Needs Assessment Program should consider the findings of this study to help inform programming and educational outreach materials.Considering the target audience, social media networks and online outreach should be prioritized to better align with the values and norms of adolescents, ultimately impacting behavioral change (Perry et al., 2021).
Future research should consider the perceptions of students nationwide related to water and natural resource conservation.Additionally, research should evaluate the change in perceptions following the delivery of water-related curriculum and investigate the long-term impact of those perceptions and intentions on behaviors and career-related decisions.

Table 2
Sources, Quality, and Quantity of Water supply: Private Supply (PS), Bottled Water (BW), Municipal Public Supply (MPS), or Rural Public Supply (RPS).

Table 3
Pollutants Impacting Surface or Groundwater inOklahoma (n = 93) aParticipants could select all issues of interest.

Table 5
Perceptions of Treatment and Reuse of ProducedWater (n = 93)