Evaluating Watershed Outreach Interventions in the Lower Kaskaskia River Watershed

Yaeger, Christine
2012-10-11
Thumbnail Image

View/Download File

YaegerC_PlanB_909_Final.pdf (1.15 MB)

Persistent link to this item

http://purl.umn.edu/136020
Statistics
View Statistics

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Title

Evaluating Watershed Outreach Interventions in the Lower Kaskaskia River Watershed

Authors

Published Date

2012-10-11

Publisher

Type

Thesis or Dissertation

Abstract

Effective programs (that meet programmatic goals) and efficient programs (which require reasonable effort) have a significant role in encouraging pro-environmental behavior and decreasing non-point source pollution. A missing component of many outreach programs and interventions is evaluating effectiveness and efficiency. This evaluation assessed outreach interventions associated with the Watershed Health Integrated Research project in the Lower Kaskaskia River Watershed in southwestern Illinois, USA. Outreach interventions included a community research team, a website, citizen and leader-focused workshops, and summary reports. Through developing the Model for Integrated Watershed Management Assessment, this evaluation examined the degree to which interventions fulfilled project objectives and the amount of effort required. Objectives-oriented evaluative criteria included taking a participatory approach, tailoring and appraising programs, and informing and empowering communities. Effort-oriented criteria included personnel numbers, hours, and costs. Data sources included correspondence with the project team, pre/post tests, and evaluative surveys. Results suggest that the citizen workshop was the most effective intervention in that it fulfilled all the project objectives, yet it was the least efficient because it required a high level of effort. None of the interventions were clearly more efficient. The community research team, summary reports, and the leader workshop fulfilled some objectives and required moderate effort, while the website fulfilled few goals and required a moderate effort. These findings can help practitioners with limited time and financial resources strategically choose outreach efforts based on efficiency and effort required. Additionally this evaluation further develops the limited field of watershed outreach evaluation.

Keywords

Description

Related to

Replaces

License

Collections

NRSM Masters Theses (Plan A and Plan B)

Series/Report Number

Funding information

Isbn identifier

Doi identifier

Previously Published Citation

Suggested citation

Yaeger, Christine. (2012). Evaluating Watershed Outreach Interventions in the Lower Kaskaskia River Watershed. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/136020.

Content distributed via the University Digital Conservancy may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor. By using these files, users agree to the Terms of Use. Materials in the UDC may contain content that is disturbing and/or harmful. For more information, please see our statement on harmful content in digital repositories.