Does the Public Approve of Massive Water Transfers and Construction Projects? Aqueducts, Fracking, and Pipelines in the High Plains

ABSTRACT: Groundwater availability has been a growing problem in the state of Kansas, where the High Plains aquifer (HPA) has been declining. Simultaneously, the Sunflower State is moving toward wind energy, investing in red meat production, and eyeing a proposal for the Kansas Aqueduct (a tremendous water transfer from eastern to semiarid western Kansas, a region with a distinct vulnerability to drought that overlies the HPA). What do Kansans think about these changes in their environment and infrastructure? Using a survey of the state’s residents (n = 864), we find that owning a private water well is a significant predictor of opposition to the colossal aqueduct, while living above the HPA predicts support for the water transfer. Well owners and women oppose the construction of coal-fired power plants, oil pipelines, hydraulic fracturing, and large corporate feedlots, while politically conservative ideologies predict support. Furthermore, well owners and women are nearly twice as likely to disapprove of fracking; conservatives have lower odds of fracking opposition. The Just Transition in Kansas is not only a question of how water, agribusiness, and wind and nuclear energy are developed, but also residents’ perceptions of these projects.