TY - JOUR
T1 - Household water consumption in an arid city
T2 - Affluence, affordance, and attitudes
AU - Harlan, Sharon L.
AU - Yabiku, Scott T.
AU - Larsen, Larissa
AU - Brazel, Anthony J.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation’s Biocomplexity in the Environment program (SES 0216281) and the Central Arizona–Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research project (DEB 9714833 and DEB 0423704). We thank Lela Pra-shad and Shapard Wolf for preparing the water usage data used in this study and Darren Ruddell for research assistance. This article has benefited from conversations with our colleagues, Kelli Larson, Patricia Gober, Marco Janssen, and Chris Martin, as well as the comments of anonymous reviewers. We also thank the Phoenix Water Services Department for its cooperation.
PY - 2009/9
Y1 - 2009/9
N2 - Reducing consumption in affluent urban households is perhaps the most important driver of future natural resource conservation. This article examines how water consumption in individual households is affected by income and determines whether household amenities or attitudes toward community and the environment mediate the effect of income on residential water use, net of other factors. We matched household social surveys, property characteristics, and climate variables with 24 months of individually metered water usage records for single-family houses in Phoenix, AZ. Household income had a positive, significant effect on consumption that was mediated by house size. Irrigable lot size and landscape type also had significant effects on consumption, although attitudes did not. In order to promote environmentally sustainable behavior we must develop better models of the social organization of consumption and encourage affluent households to be more attuned to the water affordances of their lifestyles.
AB - Reducing consumption in affluent urban households is perhaps the most important driver of future natural resource conservation. This article examines how water consumption in individual households is affected by income and determines whether household amenities or attitudes toward community and the environment mediate the effect of income on residential water use, net of other factors. We matched household social surveys, property characteristics, and climate variables with 24 months of individually metered water usage records for single-family houses in Phoenix, AZ. Household income had a positive, significant effect on consumption that was mediated by house size. Irrigable lot size and landscape type also had significant effects on consumption, although attitudes did not. In order to promote environmentally sustainable behavior we must develop better models of the social organization of consumption and encourage affluent households to be more attuned to the water affordances of their lifestyles.
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U2 - 10.1080/08941920802064679
DO - 10.1080/08941920802064679
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:70449469185
SN - 0894-1920
VL - 22
SP - 691
EP - 709
JO - Society and Natural Resources
JF - Society and Natural Resources
IS - 8
ER -
