Tyrrell County Soil and Water Conservation Office. Water Management Study of 2014 Public Education Study

Transcription

1 Tyrrell County Soil and Water Conservation Office Water Management Study of 2014 Public Education Study Haley Drabek East Carolina University NCSECU Public Service Fellowship July-September 2015

2 Table of Content Introduction 3 Methodology 4 Sampling Strategy 4 List of Water Management Districts and Number of Informants 5 Data Collection 5 Data Analysis 6 Findings 6 On Board with it - Supporters of the Proposed Water Management Districts 6 I Do Not Know Undecided Respondents 7 Affordability of Water Management District Support 7 Lack of Trust 7 Attitudes Towards Environmentalists and Refuge Land 7 Permits 8 Put the Tax on that Guy Alternative Suggestions 8 Not Worth It Denying Support 8 There Will Never be Change 9 Wrong Department 9 Conclusion 9 Appendix 10 Appendix A: Interview Questions: 10 Appendix B: List of Conversation Partners 11 Appendix C: Sample Brochure 11 2

3 Introduction To fulfill my duties as a State Employees Credit Union (SECU) Public Service Fellowship recipient, I completed three hundred hours of work for the Tyrrell County Soil and Water Conservation Office in Columbia, North Carolina. For six weeks I worked under the guidance of Dr. Christine Avenarius, anthropology professor at East Carolina University, and Ty Fleming, the Soil and Water Conservation office s administrator and technician. The task given to me was to educate the public and openly receive feedback about a proposed water management plan that Mr. Fleming had developed in the Tyrrell County Water Management Study from The Soil and Water Conservation Office provides a county wide technical service for residents who request assistance with problems such as erosion, water management, nutrient management concerns on agriculture land, and drainage. Due to the county s extremely low placement, the majority of it being either at sea level of just a few feet above it, the office is primarily overwhelmed with issues involving drainage. Any time an extensive rainfall occurs the county s waterways are flooded and slowly over time get filled with sediment and debris. Not only do the canals, ditches and irrigation systems get clogged with these materials, but a highly invasive species called Alligator Weed can take over certain parts of the Scuppernong River that runs through town. You can imagine what it can, and does do to smaller waterways such as ditches. A single leaf of Alligator Weed will grow into a bush that can overtake a body of water within months. These issues are important to address because the vast majority of residents in Tyrrell County have jobs that are within the agricultural system. Only certain areas within the county are populated, most of the land is dedicated to potato, soy or corn fields. With a county so heavily dependent on quality crops every year, major flooding and drainage issues are devastating to the economy. In May of 2015, the Soil and Water Conservation Office was provided with an Alligator Weed spray program. The county has roughly 1,665,129 feet of water channels throughout it, meaning it would take several years to spray the whole county. Even if spraying was effective, the dead Alligator Weed would sink and become an addition layer along with debris and sediment that already clog the bottoms of the waterways. Clearing and snagging these layers then digging them out is the most effect form of maintenance that the Soil and Water Conservation Office would like to be able to do. Unfortunately, none of the county tax is collected for water management, leaving Mr. Fleming unable to take on necessary projects. 3

4 Mr. Fleming s proposed water management plan is attempting to find proper funding for maintenance of the local water management and drainage systems. His vision is to put into effect Special Use Water Management Districts. Each district would set in place a tax levy that would go strictly towards water management efforts. The 2014 Tyrrell County Water Management Study is a template that outlines the idea of these districts. It describes the steps needed to create a county service district, provides examples of public notices, talks in detail about the benefits of each of the nine districts (Second Creek, Soundside, Alligator/Goat Neck, Frying Pan, Columbia, Riders Creek/ Travis, Kilkenny, South Fork, and Scuppernong), and has in-depth information about the county s drainage. I was asked to find a way to get this information out to the residents of Tyrrell County and collect feedback so Mr. Fleming could further solidify his proposal. Methodology Sampling Strategy For this project I used a purposive, non-probability sampling strategy. Tyrrell County has roughly 4,000 residents, 800 in the city limits of Columbia alone. Being able to discuss the water management idea with every citizen would have been an unrealistic task for the time frame at hand. Since a tax levy based on property size and value would affect individuals with the largest and most expensive amount of property, I chose to target these residents. Using the Tyrrell County GIS system, I made lists of all residents within the perimeters of each of the nine Special Use Water Management Districts. These lists included their name, address, total acreage of property owned, and their taxid. Then, I organized these lists according to property size. Mr. Fleming has an extensive knowledge of the properties in the county because of his job and long term residence. I used snowballing to condense my long lists of residents by giving them to Mr. Fleming. I had him eliminate individuals who he knew owned property in town but did not live there, and put a check next to individuals who he felt were very important to talk with. These important individuals were primarily farmers, county commissioners, the town manager and the mayor. In preparation for my interviews, I made a brochure summarizing the key information found in the Tyrrell County Water Management Study. I wanted to have a visual aid to use while talking with the residents, as well as have something to leave for those residents who may not be 4

5 home. They had a map of how the districts would be divided, a summary of concerns and issues around drainage that citizens have expressed in the past, a summary of how this new plan will attempt to address those concerns and issues, an example of a tax levy on a property valued at $50,000, and contact information for myself and the Soil and Water Conservation Office. I spent roughly half a week in each district, going around to a selected resident s house in hope that they would be home and willing to spend a few minutes talking with me. If no one was home I left a note on the back of a brochure saying, I would greatly appreciate the opportunity to discuss Tyrrell County s water management with you, please contact me at... with my name and personal phone number. Listed below is the number of houses I went to in each district, followed by the number of informants I was able to find and talk with. List of Water Management Districts and Number of Informants Second Creek: 9 houses/ 1 informant Soundside: 29 houses/ 7 informants Alligator/Goat Neck: 13 houses/ 4 informants Frying Pan: 7 houses/ 6 informants Columbia: 18 houses/ 8 informants Riders Creek/Travis: 20 houses/ 8 informants Kilkenny: 13 houses/ 2 informants South Fork: 13 houses/ 4 informants Scuppernong: 15 houses/ 4 informants Data Collection For the data collection I asked the informant structured and unstructured interview questions. During the structured portion I began by giving my informant a brochure and asking them whether or not they agreed with the list of issues and concerns. When they disagreed, I followed up by asking what they would change about it. Whenever they agreed, I asked if they recognized any other issues that they would like to add. I continued the conversation by inquiring what issues they experienced on their own personal property. If they had any personal drainage issues I added a question about whether or not they tended to them in any way themselves and whether or not the county tended to them at all. After these initial questions I went on to explain the idea 5

6 behind the Water Management Districts and how Mr. Fleming expects individual property owners to benefit the issues they are seeing and experiencing. During the unstructured portion of the interview, I opened it up to the informant to share with me their opinions about the proposed water management plan. I adjusted my questions according to their comments, concerns and questions, but generally asked: How do you feel about the formation of these water districts? How do you think they will be beneficial for yourself? How do you think they might cause problems for you? What about the proposed water districts plans would you change? What sort of ways do you think the water management in Tyrrell County could be bettered? At the end of my interviews I asked the informant whether or not they cared to receive more information in the future about the formation of the districts. All informants expressed their interest in knowing any further actions taken to form the districts and signed their name and number or on a sign-up sheet that I provided. Data Analysis For the data analysis I used qualitative and quantitative analysis by coding my interviews and using that information to understand what percentage of people commented on a specific issue or had a certain opinion regarding the districts. After reading through my interview notes several times, there were 10 commonly expressed opinions and issues that seemed most prominent. I carefully went through the pages of notes a few more times to code my observations. Findings On Board with it - Supporters of the Proposed Water Management Districts Sixty-four percent of the informants directly expressed their support for the proposed water management plan. Four individuals specifically said that they would support the idea because Mr. Fleming was the one who developed it. If Ty thinks it s a good idea, I d be behind it. It is his job after all. Several of these individuals also emphasized that they understood that taxing would have to happen in order to get much needed projects done, so they would be more than willing to back this idea and pay in. 6

7 I Do Not Know Undecided Respondents Eighteen percent of the informants said they were unable to provide an opinion. Four of these individuals were females, two who referred me to male relatives who would be better candidates to talk to and two who said they could not come up with an opinion because they did not know enough about water management to comment. The other four informants that could be placed in this category were males who all said they needed more information about the topic or wanted to discuss the idea with a colleague before they wished to comment. Affordability of Water Management District Support I found that only eighteen percent of informants brought up the issue of either themselves or others not being able to afford more taxes. Three of these individuals had concerns for others in the community that they thought would have difficulty paying another tax. Two referred to retired people on fixed incomes, and the third commented on the general poor. Out of the five informants who expressed their own inability to afford another tax, three were retired people on fixed incomes. The other two simply expressed that they thought it would be too expensive to add on to their other expenses. Lack of Trust Fourteen percent of these individuals used language that showed their lack of trust in the idea of giving more money to taxes. Two individuals said that the plan I explained to them sounded nice in theory, but they knew better than to think that was actually how it was going to happen. One informant summed up this category well by saying, It s just more people taking money that aren t going to do anything with it. This percent of people all said that they would have to know exactly what their money was going towards for them to invest into the districts. One individual said that she specifically did not want the county office to be in charge of this plan, but she would be on board with the idea if she knew that someone outside of it would be managing the tax levy. Attitudes Towards Environmentalists and Refuge Land A large percentage of land throughout Tyrrell County was bought for conservation purposes of wetlands and wildlife. Twenty-three percent of informants mentioned this as an issue during part of our interview. A common concern was that drainage efforts would be pointless unless they 7

8 agreed to be a part of the management plan. Two comments from informants that fall into this category summarize the concern. They want everything natural and that s fine, if you don t live here. If you can t get the environmentalist folks and wildlife folks on board, you can forget it, nothing will be fixed. Permits Another common concern that made some residents skeptical about the effectiveness of the management plan is the issue of permits. Fourteen percent of informants mentioned permits in their interview. Five of these individuals spoke of the difficulties to get a permit to do any drainage projects, regardless of if there is a way to get money to do them. We can t get permits, it took two years just to put in docks that were supposed to be a simple ninety day permit process. This was the main argument that the Mayor, Michael Griffin, had. The sixth individual that brought up the topic of permits was not concerned with the ability of getting on, but rather the regulations around most permits such as where debris from digging projects has to be disposed. Put the Tax on that Guy Alternative Suggestions Nine percent of the informants expressed opinions on how the tax levy should be set, none of which were directed towards them. Two individuals both said that farmers should either be taxed double what home owners are or take on the tax from the land owners that they rent from. Both of these individuals rented their land to farmers in the county. One farmer suggested that tax should not be based off of acreage, but off of the number and size of structures on the property. The fourth was a homeowner that lived in the middle of the county and thought that people who lived on the water should pay a higher tax. Not Worth It Denying Support Only two individuals, five percent of informants, said that they did not think that the extra tax was worth the little benefit they would receive. Both of these residents live in the Soundside district, but I do not see any correlation with this. One of the individuals lives on waterfront property and thinks that The only benefit is cleaning the canal and they should do that already anyways. The other individual does not live on the water and thinks it would not be worth it 8

9 because Trying to fix the water issues is pointless. They both did say that they thought something needed to be done though. There Will Never be Change Eighteen percent of informants did not express concern with the management plan, but rather with their community. These individuals all talked about the county s inability to move forward with something, even if it is beneficial and productive, because it is such a small community that is set in its ways. I don t think I ll live to see anything done, our community will never grow. It takes a long time to change anything around here. At the beginning of one interview the informant said, We ve never had this before, why do we need it now? and then said several minutes later,... so many negative people in the county, old people don t like change. Wrong Department One issue I found particularly interesting was some individual s confusion about which department I was speaking for. After explaining the water management plan to these four residents, nine percent of informants, they commented on the quality of drinking water, septic tank issues, and a rise in water bills. Even after politely correcting them on this mistake, they did not seem convinced the department that I was representing did not have something to do with it. When speaking with Reverend Laura Melton, an African American reverend in town, she specifically warned me of this confusion. She said, You will run into the black community being upset about water bills and sewage, they don t understand departments and will think it s you and will be upset that you are talking about collecting more money. Conclusion When discussing a tax levy with any community of people, you will run into some degree of unease. Although there was a small percentage of individuals who completely wrote off the idea of the water management plan due to the discussion of taxes, there was a greater interest in the idea due to the dire need for proper drainage projects throughout the county. Also, the main concerns that informants expressed are not solidified into the proposal or are not directly correlated. I conclude from my research that the community in Tyrrell County will stand behind 9

10 Mr. Fleming s water management plan as long as steps are made to educate the residents on where their money is being spent and how it will benefit them directly. Appendix Appendix A: Interview Questions: On the inside left part of the brochure is a list of water issues that people expressed concern for in 2014: How do these issues matter to you today? What other other issues would you like to add as large concerns that effect your district? On your own personal property, what sort of issues do you have concerning water and drainage? How are those issues tended to by yourself? How are those issues tended to by the county management? What have you heard about the idea of Water Districts? [Explain their benefits more in depth (me) Explain how setting an agreed district tax levy would be beneficial and give $50,000 example (me). } Looking at the financial calculation listed on the brochure and without saying out loud how much it would be for yourself - could you please tell me if the resulting tax levy for the price of your property is something that would be realistic and affordable for yourself? How do you feel about the formation of these water districts? How do you think they will be beneficial for yourself? How do you think they might cause problems for you? What about the proposed water districts plans would you change? In case you support the formation of a water district for your neighborhood, what sort of ways do you think the water management in Tyrrell County could be bettered? What are some other ideas about water management that are needed and would be beneficial for yourself? Would you care to receive more information in the future about the formation of these water districts? 10

11 Appendix B: List of Conversation Partners See Excel File Appendix C: Sample Brochure See document in Microsoft Publisher. I designed a separate brochure for each water management district. 11