The Value of Water in the Twin Cities

Abstract

This report outlines findings from a four-year research project conducted by University of Minnesota (UMN) researchers in collaboration with the Metropolitan Council (hereafter Council), with funding from the Council’s Community Development and Environmental Services Division. The study area includes the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area seven-county region. In 2019, staff from the Council’s Environmental Services Division engaged with researchers from the UMN Center for Changing Landscapes and Humphrey School of Public Affairs to discuss the Council’s desire to better understand and represent the perspectives of socially and culturally diverse residents and their water relationships. The project’s goals are to uplift the perspectives and experiences of Twin Cities Metro Area residents, especially socially marginalized groups with the aim of representation justice in water policy and planning. Davenport et al. (2023, pg. 289) define representation justice in water as policy, planning, and management in which “people should reasonably expect that the diversity of water relationships and values of community members are fairly deliberated and equitably represented among those in power.” To center representation justice in our science, the UMN team committed to using rigorous and inclusive social science research methodologies to gather and share different narratives of water from and with communities and community leaders across MSP with the goal of better representing communities and influencing water policy, programming, and investments towards water justice.

In 2021-2022, UMN researchers conducted a survey of Twin Cities Metro Area residents. Our original study design directed us to survey residents onsite, at community events. However, because of the 2019 COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions, an onsite survey was no longer possible. Instead, we administered a mail survey of residential households in the Twin Cities Metro Area to learn more about residents’ understanding of their water supply, perceived threats or concerns related to water services, familiarity with their water bill and local issues related to water in their communities. A detailed account of Phase I (2020-2022) work is presented in a separate technical report (Roth et al., 2022). This report presents findings from the second phase of social science research conducted as part of the larger two-phase project. This report describes three research activities conducted in Phase II from 2022-2024: • Twin Cities Metropolitan Area Municipal Surveys: A Review of Water Insights • Urban Water Values in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area • Water Policy Co-Development Workshops The report is organized into three sections. Each section reports on an activity and was written by project PIs and co-authors.