摘要：Popular concern over water quality has important implications for public water managementbecause it can both empower water utilities to improve service but also limit their ability to make changes.In the desert city of Phoenix, Arizona, obtaining sufficient high-quality water resources for a growing urbanpopulation poses a major challenge. Decision makers and urban hydrologists are aware of these challengesto water sustainability but the range of acceptable policy and management options available to them isconstrained by public opinion. Therefore, this study examines cultural models of water quality and watermanagement, termed ethnohydrology, among urban residents. The study yields three key findings. First,urban residents appear to have a shared model of ethnohydrology which holds that a) there are significantwater quality risks associated with low financial investments in city-wide water treatment and the desertlocation of Phoenix, and b) government monitoring and management combined with household-level watertreatment can yield water of an acceptable quality. Second, people with high incomes are more likely toengage in expensive water filtration activities and to agree with the cultural ethnohydrology model found.Third, people living in communities that are highly concerned about water quality are less likely to sharehigh agreement around ethnohydrology. The results have implications for water policy making andplanning, particularly in disadvantaged and vulnerable communities where water quality is perceived tobe low
关键词：cultural consensus; cultural model; freelist; perceptions; Phoenix; urban; water quality
