Participation and Perception: A Community Watershed Organizations Influence on Watershed Residents' Water Quality Perceptions at Owasco Lake, NY

Abstract

This presentation focuses on the influence a community watershed organization (CWO) has in Owasco Lake Watershed, in Upstate New York. Using mixed-methods, the researcher worked closely with a well-established CWO, Owasco Watershed Lake Association (OWLA), to investigate how awareness and/or participation in watershed organizations influence perceptions of the lake’s water quality. This presentation outlines the data gathered via semi-structured interviews, participant observation, and a survey instrument as well as the preliminary conclusions of the research. The presentation is rich in qualitative data, with a main theme of the “voices of the watershed.” In other words, the research is unique in that its focus is on the watershed residents and CWO members, and the divide between the groups’ understandings of their shared resource, Owasco Lake.