Understanding water in the social-ecological system of the Wind River/Bighorn River Basin, Wyoming and Montana: Choice modeling survey data from 2016

This data publication contains the results of a survey to obtain opinions and attitudes toward water resource management in the Wind River/Bighorn River Basin in Montana and Wyoming. A mail-back survey, administered between March and May of 2016, went to a random sample of mailing addresses in the Wind River/Bighorn River Basin. Adult household heads were asked to complete the survey. The survey included questions about benefits related to water importance, factors threatening the water, opinions on the natural resources in the basin, perception on water management outcomes, and personal information.
This study was designed to address the complex interrelationship between ecological and social systems in a way that, to the greatest extent practicable, sustains the broad range of ecosystem services flowing from public land that support human well-being. Both human and natural change (e.g., climate change, land-use change, and drought) can result in an altered flow of ecosystem services to a broad range of beneficiaries, who not only have disparate preferences for ecosystem services, but also differing abilities to adapt and cope with change. In the context of water management in the western United States, this task is particularly difficult as a result of both water scarcity and the competing nature of the many uses of water (e.g., irrigation and instream flow). In order to improve management and policy related to water-based ecosystem services flowing from public land, there is a need to provide better information to natural resource managers and policy-makers about tradeoffs and impacts of management actions on stakeholder benefits derived from water.
For more information about these data and this study, see Armatas et al. (2018).