Stormwater on the margins: Influence of race, gender, and education on willingness to participate in stormwater management

Abstract

Stormwater has immense impacts on urban flooding and water quality, leaving the marginalized and the impoverished disproportionately impacted by and vulnerable to stormwater hazards. However, the environmental health concerns of socially and economically marginalized individuals are largely underestimated. Through regression analysis of data from three longitudinal surveys, this article examines if and how an individual's race, gender, and education level help predict one's concern about and willingness to participate in stormwater management. We found that people of color, women, and less-educated respondents had a greater willingness to participate in stormwater management than White, male, and more-educated respondents, and their concern about local stormwater hazards drove their willingness to participate. Our analysis suggests that physical exposure and high vulnerability to stormwater hazards may shape an individual's concern about and willingness to participate in stormwater management.

Keywords: Environmental concern; Environmental justice; Race/ethnicity; Stormwater management; Willingness to participate.