http://hdl.handle.net/1957/18386 Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:46:19 GMT 2013-06-18T23:46:19Z http://hdl.handle.net/1957/28827 Empowerment and Gender Equality for Water and Sanitation in Rural India: Two Case Studies Brown, Abigail Women and marginalized populations often encounter adversity associated with access, planning, and management of water and sanitation (WatSan) resources in rural India. The Government of India (GOI) has shifted to decentralized, participatory WatSan systems and developed policies to include women and marginalized populations from rural areas in WatSan. Many NGOs working on WatSan in rural India also strive to include women and marginalized populations. Both the GOI and NGOs claim decentralized, participatory programs lead to empowerment of women and gender equality. Through separate case studies, this paper reviews WatSan programs started by two NGOs in different villages in India. The two NGOs (NGO A and NGO B) aspire to empower women and achieve gender equality in conjunction with WatSan programs. Mixed methods are used to evaluate empowerment and gender equality in villages related and unrelated to WatSan programs. The concept of empowerment is divided into two components: empowerment potential and the empowerment process. Empowerment potential for WatSan is gauged using an Empowerment Potential Index (EPI) that determines access to WatSan, access to WatSan planning groups, and access to WatSan management groups for individuals using data from household surveys. Women respondents in NGO A have higher ratings on the EPI. Women respondents in NGO B have comparatively lower ratings on the EPI. This is likely correlated to the time each NGO has been working in the WatSan sector. The empowerment process for WatSan is gauged using a definition of self-worth, capacity, and transformation to analyze data from individual interviews. Women participants in NGO A engaged in the empowerment process largely through obtaining microcredit to make household and community financial decisions unrelated to WatSan. Women participants in NGO B engaged in the empowerment process mainly through individual communication about water issues with the vice-president of their village government. Neither NGO has a clear definition of empowerment nor a monitoring program in place to measure empowerment, but each NGO collects sex-disaggregated data to measure gender equality. Both NGOs have fewer comments by women related to self-worth when compared to comments related to capacity and transformation. Both NGOs have lower occurrences of the empowerment process occurring on the political level according to women in individual interviews. Gender equality for WatSan was improved by each organization. NGO A implemented WatSan efforts that influenced gender equality and empowerment through creation of community groups that provided loans for WatSan and WatSan awareness. NGO B implemented WatSan efforts that influenced gender equality and empowerment through access to WatSan and increased WatSan awareness. Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1957/28827 2012-04-19T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1957/28826 Western Oregon Cities and Low Impact Development in Stormwater Management: An exploratory study of the barriers cities face and their approaches to stormwater management Sowles, Marisa Stormwater has traditionally been conveyed off a developed site as quickly as possible, primarily through pipes. This runoff is often stored in large ponds and/or treated in central facilities. As cities grow and development continues, more runoff is generated via impervious surfaces. Excessive runoff impacts the water quality of water bodies near and far and alters the natural water cycle. The growing volumes of runoff are making it increasingly difficult for cities across the country to manage stormwater. A new practice, Low Impact Development (LID) as applied to stormwater, aims to infiltrate runoff on site and mimic the natural hydrologic process. Informal interviews were conducted with city staff from eighteen cities in western Oregon. The goal of the study was to identify barriers cities face toward LID implementation and approaches cities take to implement LID. The study also looked at four city characteristics; population, growth rate, geographic location and city governance to identify correlations between city characteristics and the barriers they face or approaches they take. The study reports several known, documented barriers and approaches, but also examines several newer barriers and approaches and suggests there is unique combination of barriers and approaches for each city, which may impact the ease of LID adoption in that city. The study also examines some of the inherent properties of LID and concludes that because the innovative qualities of LID, such as relative advantage and compatibility, it is a practice that will likely take decades to fully adopt. This exploratory study could provide information to complete a future more statistically sound study which could then further aid policy recommendations. Furthermore, results of this study and future studies could provide insight on the most effective and efficient methods to promote LID on a local level. Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1957/28826 2012-04-19T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1957/20421 The Community Well Water Testing Program: Volunteer Groundwater Nitrate Monitoring in the Southern Willamette Valley of Oregon Moscowitz, Laura In October 2006, the Oregon State University Extension Service Well Water Program began a groundwater monitoring project to learn more about well water nitrate levels in the Southern Willamette Valley and increase community involvement in groundwater management activities. The primary objectives of the program were to elucidate trends in spatial and temporal variability of nitrate in well derived drinking water, facilitate understanding of regional groundwater issues through neighbor-to-neighbor outreach, and assist rural residents in protecting their drinking water supply. The Community Well Water Testing Program established neighborhood networks in which volunteer monitors tested their own well and their neighbors’ wells for nitrate on a monthly basis. Each volunteer monitor was responsible for collecting water samples from 3-9 neighborhood wells, analyzing the samples using a LaMotte nitrate-nitrogen test kit, and reporting results to both the well owner and program managers. During the 2006-2007 sampling year, 20 volunteer monitors tested 1,209 well water samples for nitrate. The mean nitrate concentration for all tested wells over this period was 3.0 mg/L. Annual mean nitrate values ranged from 0 to 14.1 mg/L with a median of 1.9 mg/L. Eleven wells had an annual mean nitrate value over 7 mg/L, the Oregon groundwater nitrate action level, while 6 wells had an annual mean nitrate value over 10 mg/L, the national nitrate public water supply standard. Results showed considerable regional variability as well as seasonal variation by well. Monitoring prompted questions, interest, and learning while initiating conversations and involvement among neighbors. Collectively, monitoring and neighborhood outreach brought attention to regional groundwater resources and encouraged increased awareness. Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1957/20421 2011-03-07T00:00:00Z