Irene Rolston

Who's Afraid of a Little Nitrate?: Discovering Impediments and Incentives in Following Best Management Practices in the Southern Willamette Valley Groundwater Management Area Irene Rolston

"Who's Afraid of a Little Nitrate?" summarizes interviews with growers residing within the Groundwater Management Area (GWMA) in the Southern Willamette Valley of Oregon. Informal and semi-structured interviews are used to identify impediments and incentives perceived by local farmers in following best management practices related to water quality. Results from the interviews were coded into four major themes: economics, sources of information, technology and perception of risk. The four themes illustrate how growers determine which best management practices to incorporate based on risks that have been either amplified or attenuated using the Social Amplification of Risk Framework (SARF) model. The text stresses the importance of considering risk perceptions, which are often based on economic viability, when formulating voluntary recommendations by governmental task forces or various stakeholder committees.