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Item Comprehensive Report of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus Public Opinion Survey(2020-09-15) Waitman, AlixandraThe purpose of the Water-Energy‐Food Nexus Public Opinion Survey was to evaluate how societal perspectives influence and reflect public opinions regarding the various issues associated with the water-energy‐food nexus. The questionnaire specifically sought to discern the participants’ individual knowledge of issues related to the interrelationship between water, energy, and food resources. Moreover, it served to better understand levels of trust in government; views of the roles and responsibilities of the public, private, and nonprofit sectors; perceptions of risk; and policy preferences amongst the United States and state of Texas populaces.Item Resilience in U.S. Cities: A survey of policies& programs(2020-09-15) Woodruff, Sierra; Bowman, Ann; Feiock, Richard; Hannibal, Bryce; Kang, Ki Eun; Oh, Jeongmin; Sansom, GarettTo understand how U.S. cities are operationalizing resilience, we surveyed 58 of the largest cities in the U.S. in 2019. The survey included questions about how cities define resilience, who is engaged in resilience efforts, and the policies and programs cities are adopting to build resilience. We complemented the survey with a web-based analysis of adoption and implementation of 109 different resilience policies and programs. We found: Most cities do not have a resilience plan or indicator system. City officials’ understanding of resilience is multi-faceted and includes a broad set of attributes. One-quarter of cities (24%) have not received any external funding for resilience. Federal agencies were the most common source of funding for cities that did receive funding for resilience projects. Resilience efforts are highly collaborative. In most cities, a large number of city agencies are engaged in resilience efforts and cities commonly coordinate with outside organizations. City sustainability, emergency management, planning, and public works departments appear to be the most important actors in resilience efforts. There is large variation in adoption of resilience policies across cities. The most prevalent policies align with the traditional sustainability agenda. Although cities consider reducing social vulnerability as a key attribute of resilience, policies to reduce social vulnerability are not widely adopted. Policies to harden critical infrastructure and plan for the impacts of climate change are relatively uncommon across the 101 largest cities in the U.S.Item Comprehensive Report of the Climate Change National Public Survey(2020-09-15) Waitman, AlixandraThe objective of the 2013 Climate Change National Public Survey was to allow researchers to analyze and improve their understanding of factors that influence the knowledge and opinions of the United States public regarding climate change causes, phenomena, and effects. The survey questionnaire aimed to gauge public opinions toward various climate change issues, including individual perceptions and assessments of climate change risks, levels of trust in the ability of government officials and agencies to administer relevant public problems, uses of and confidence in climate information sources, and their policy interests and preferences.Item Project Final Report: Role of Coastal Bend Organizational Stakeholders in Regional Recovery and Resilience Efforts(2020-07-31) Brown, Stephanie; Goldsmith, Carol; Halperin Lisa; Seavey, Ian; Winarski, Kimberly; Vedlitz, ArnoldSevere storms such as Hurricane Harvey that battered the Texas Gulf Coast in August 2017 not only stretch resources related to short-term rescue, safety and health, but also generate extensive discussion and planning to manage the long-term recovery as well as to improve the resilience of Texas Coastal communities. Any future planning, policies, and resource allocation strategies will reflect key local and state stakeholders’ views regarding risk, cost, capacity, and policy options (see, for example, Alexander, 2000; Adger et al. 2005; Comfort, Boin and Demchak, 2010; Portney, 2015; and Wenger, 2017). The project team designed and deployed a targeted in-depth survey of key stakeholders in the Texas Coastal Bend Region to identify their views on problem sources, risk perceptions, planning goals, policy evaluations, resource allocations, and patterns of interaction across groups related to recent environmental stressors like Harvey. The findings from this survey are reported below.Item Survey of Legal Mechanisms Relating to Groundwater Along the Texas-Mexico Border(Texas A&M University School of Law Program in Natural Resources Systems, 2018-04) Foster, JessicaThis report details the complexity of the governance structure that oversees the up to 15 transboundary aquifers along the Texas-Mexico border. There is a complex network of local, state, federal, and international entities and the treaties, laws, and regulations that govern the transboundary aquifers. The report delineates overlaps and gaps in the governance structures and the ways these create opportunities for both cooperation and conflict between and among groundwater regulators from both Texas and Mexico. Finding ways to encourage and leverage multi-level government cooperation between Texas and Mexico is becoming increasingly critical for protecting aquifer sustainability while efficiently allocating use of the waters to the growing populations along the border. A basic and profound difference in water governance in Texas and Mexico is the ownership status of the water resource. Mexican law declares all ground and surface water within its jurisdiction as public property. Texas’ laws, however, establish groundwater as private property, and the State owns the surface water. The executive branch of Mexico has immense authority in regulating how water is extracted and allocated from transboundary aquifers, but private citizens in Texas have the ability to extract groundwater on their property with little regulation. The disparity in regulatory practices between Texas and Mexico leads to many of the extraction practices involving these transboundary aquifers being difficult to catalogue.Item Ecological, Economic and Policy Alternatives for Texas Rice Agriculture(ORIGINAL: Institute for Science, Technology and Public Policy in The Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, 2000) Alston, Letitia T.; Lacher, Thomas E.; Slack, R. Douglas; Vedlitz, Arnold; Woodward, Richard T.; Franklin, James C.; Canzoneri, Nicole; Conkey, April Ann Torres; Cowman, Deborah F.; Harris, Jeanine; Henry, April; Kennedy, Elizabeth; Krohn, Michelle R.; Mizell, Kelly; Nicholson, Jill; Tierce, Kelly; Wui, Yong-Sukh; Texas Water Resources InstituteItem Utilization of Science-Based Information on Climate Change in Decision Making and the Public Policy Process - Phase 1(ORIGINAL: Institute for Science, Technology and Public Policy in The Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, 2008-11) Vedlitz, Arnold; Alston, Letitia T.; Wood, B. Dan; North, Gerald R.; Lindquist, Eric; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of CommerceItem Utilization of Science-Based Information on Climate Change in Decision Making and the Public Policy Process - Phase 2(ORIGINAL: Institute for Science, Technology and Public Policy in The Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, 2010-10) Vedlitz, Arnold; Lindquist, Eric; Liu, Xinsheng; Zahran, Sammy; Wood, B. Dan; Alston, Letitia T.; North, Gerald; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of CommerceItem Effluent Trading: A Policy Review for Texas(Center for Public Leadership Studies in The Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, 1999-11-05) Fossett, Mark A.; Kaiser, Ronald; Matlock, Marty D.; Vedlitz, Arnold; Woodward, Richard T.; Texas Natural Resource Conservation CommissionItem Development of an Urban Watershed Rehabilitation Method Using Stakeholder Feedback to Direct Investigation and Restoration Planning(ORIGINAL: Institute for Science, Technology and Public Policy in The Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, 2003-09) Samuelson; Charles D.; Matlock, Marty D.; Kenimer, Ann L.; Neill, William H.; Peterson, Tarla Rai; Whitten, Guy D.; Vedlitz, Arnold; Alston, Letitia T.; U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyItem Decision Making Under Conditions of Uncertainty: Experimental Assessment of Decision Models(ORIGINAL: Institute for Science, Technology and Public Policy in The Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, 2005) Vedlitz, Arnold; Mintz, Alex; Redd, Steven B.; Liu, Xinsheng; Alston, Letitia T.; National Defense UniversityItem Use of Science in Gulf of Mexico Decision Making Involving Climate Change(Institute for Science, Technology and Public Policy in The Bush School of Government at Texas A&M University; Center for Hazards Assessment, Response and Technology at the University of New Orleans; Center for Socioeconomic Research at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette; Environmental Sciences Institute at Florida A&M University, 2007) Vedlitz, Arnold; Alston, Letitia T.; Laska, Shirley B.; Gramling, Robert B.; Harwell, Mark A.; Worthen, Helen D.; U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyItem Climate Change, Drought, and Policymaking in the U.S. Southern Region(ORIGINAL: Institute for Science, Technology and Public Policy in The Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, 2010) Vedlitz, Arnold; Lindquist, Eric; Liu, Xinsheng; Gronberg, Timothy J.; Neilson, William; Weeks, Pris; Dean, Wesley R.; Shi, Liu; Neilson-Gammon, John W.; Zahran, Sammy; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce