Water Quantity and Quality Initial Survey

Instructions

Answer questions as they relate to you. For most answers, check the boxes most applicable to you or fill in the blanks.


Background

The purpose of this section is to obtain background information.


1.

Which of the following best describes where your farm is located?

South Florida

Central Florida

North Florida

Other:


2.

What type(s) of agricultural product do you primarily produce?

(Select all that apply.)

Nursery crops

Vegetables

Fruits

Other:


3.

Does your income rely primarily on farming?

Yes

No


4.

Would you consider yourself as a:

Part time farmer

Full time farmer


5.

Approximately how many acres do you farm?

less than 1 acre

1 to 9 acres

10 to 49 acres

50 to 179 acres

180 to 499 acres

500 to 999 acres

1000 acres or more


6.

How many years have you been farming in south Florida?

5 years or less

6 to 10 years

11 to 15 years

16 to 20 years

Greater than 20 years


7.

Which of the following best describes your property?

Agricultural/residential (farm and live on property)

Agricultural and agricultural/residential (farm and live on one property and farm additional land)

Agricultural only (do not live on farm)


8.

To which age group do you belong?

Under 20 years

21 to 30 years

31 to 40 years

41 to 50 years

51 to 60 years

61 to 70 years

Over 70 years


9.

What is your gender?

Male

Female


10.

What is the size of your farm operation according to your annual gross sales?

Less than $2,500

$2,500 to $4,999

$5,000 to $9,999

$10,000 to $24,999

$25,000 to $49,999

$50,000 to $99,999

$100,000 to $500,000

Over $500,000


Water quality and quantity opinions related to your home

The purpose of this part of the survey is to get your opinion on general water quality and water quantity concerns as it relates to your home. Recall that water quality practices help to prevent or reduce pollution and water quantity practices help to prevent or reduce water wastage.


11.

How would you characterize the majority of water you drink?

Bottled water

Municipal tap water

Municipal water that has been filtered by a home filter system (Brita, etc.)

Well water

Well water that has been filtered by a home filter system (Brita, etc.)

Other:


12.

Which (if any) of the following water conservation practices do you follow?

(Select all that apply.)

Generally not running the water faucet continually while brushing my teeth

Not leaving water hoses on longer than necessary

Not running the dishwasher unless it is full

Not taking exceeding long showers (less than 14 minutes)

None


Questions 13 to 17

For questions 13 to 17 please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree

 

Strongly agree

Agree

Neither agree or disagree

Disagree

Strongly disagree

13.

If you were to become aware of other actions that you could practice (similar to those in the previous question) to conserve water, would you be interested in learning about them?

14.

Things that you do to help conserve water will not make a difference in the long run.

15.

Because no one knows what the future holds, there is no reason to change the things we do today.

16.

I believe that there will be a water shortage within south Florida in the next 10 years

17.

I believe that the municipal tap water is clean enough to drink without filtration


Water quality and quantity related to agriculture

The purpose of this section is to obtain information directly related to agricultural water quality and quantity concerns.


18.

Do you think that the agricultural community is interested in implementing practices that conserve water and protect water quality?

Strongly agree

Agree

Neither agree or disagree

Disagree

Strongly disagree


19.

Would you implement water quantity and/or water quality management practices if they were shown to provide an economic benefit to your operation?

Strongly agree

Agree

Neither agree or disagree

Disagree

Strongly disagree


20.

If the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) offered an incentive that provided a 'Presumption of Compliance' with water quality standards (or a protection for landowners from cost recovery due to water quality standards not being met) to landowners who voluntarily implement BMPs that have been verified to be effective, would you implement the identified BMPs?

Yes

No


21.

Would you implement water quantity and/or water quality management practices if they only cost a modest amount of time and/or money per year to implement, such as:

< $500

$500 to $1,000

$1,000 to $5,000

$2,000 to $10,000

> $10,000

None of the above


Question 22


22.

In the past 5 years, which (if any) of the following water saving measure(s) were used on your farm:

(Select all that apply.)

growing mainly drought tolerant plant species

Irrigating mainly in the early morning or late evening

Monitoring plant growth stages (phenology) and irrigate accordingly

Monitoring container or field soil moisture

Monitoring the weather and only irrigating during periods of dry weather

None

Other:


Questions 23 to 28

Based on the water saving measures listed in the question above, please rate the applicability on your farm of each of the following measures using the following scale: 1 = very applicable, 2 = somewhat applicable, 3 = undecided, 4 = not normally applicable, 5 = not applicable.

 

1

2

3

4

5

23.

Growing mainly drought tolerant plant species

24.

Irrigating mainly in the morning or late evening

25.

Reusing/recycling water

26.

Monitoring plant growth stages(phenology) and irrigate accordingly

27.

Monitoring container or field soil moisture

28.

Monitoring the weather at your field sites


Question 29


29.

In the past 5 years, which (if any) of the following water quality protecting measure(s) were used on your farm:

(Select all that apply.)

Application of nutrients based on soil sampling

Application of nutrients based on plant tissue analysis

Monitoring local weather so that nutrients and pesticides are less likely to be applied immediately preceding a rainfall event

Application of nutrients or pesticides using a microsprinkler or drip irrigation system and a calibrated chemical injector

None

Other:


Questions 30 to 34

Based on the water quality protecting measures listed in the question above, please rate the applicability on your farm of each of the following measures using the following scale: 1 = very applicable, 2 = somewhat applicable, 3 = undecided, 4 = not normally applicable, 5 = not applicable.

 

1

2

3

4

5

30.

Application of nutrients based on soil sampling.

31.

Application of nutrients based on plant tissue analysis

32.

Reusing/recycling water

33.

Monitoring local weather so that nutrients and pesticides are less likely to be applied immediately preceding a rainfall event

34.

Application of nutrients or pesticides using a microsprinkler or drip irrigation system and calibrated chemical injector


Questions 35 to 38


35.

BMP stands for:

Bureau of Marine Protection

Best Monitoring Protocol

Best Management Practice

Better Management Program

Business Management Program


36.

Which of the following practices (if any) are you familiar with?

(Select all that apply.)

Soil moisture based irrigation

Nutrient management using soil/plant sampling

Drip irrigation

Microsprinklers

None of the above


37.

Which of the following methods would provide you with the best information for implementing a water conservation or water quality management practice?

Extension fact sheet on the practice, its benefits, and how to implement it

Field days at a research center or extension center where the practice was demonstrated

A short course (1 to 2 hours) where and Extension Agent or Extension Specialists discussed the practice and its implementation

Local grower implementation of the practice on his/her field with a field day at the site regarding the practice

Other:


38.

What is the most important factor that has or would prevent you from implementing a particular water conservation practice?

Cost

Knowledge about the technology

Confidence in the technology working

Time (for understanding and implementing a new technology)

Other:



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