Economics
teams with city for water survey
By Steve
Carr
The UNM
Economics Department has teamed up with the City of Albuquerque
to conduct a water users survey on water priorities and values
related to water use in the city.
Under the
direction of UNM Professors Janie Chermak and Kate Krause, the
department will create a survey designed for public input into
policies and will help the council prioritize water issues.
The survey will be sent to city users in their water bills.
The department will analyze the data and prepare a report for
the city.
We
thought that conducting this survey would be a good way to find
out from the citizens what their water policy preferences and
priorities are, Krause said. We think if residents
had an opportunity to express their opinions, they might be
more willing to support some type of holistic water conservation
plan.
No
one can question the credentials of the UNM Economics department
to be the best ones to conduct the survey, said Miguel
Gomez, District 1 city councilor, who presented the resolution
that passed on a 6-0 vote at a recent city council meeting.
This
will allow rate payers to communicate with the government,
said Greg Payne, District 8 city councilor.
As part
of the agreement, the city will provide a $12,000 stipend for
a UNM graduate student to assist with the collection and analysis
of acquired data.