Stakeholder perceptions of flooding issues in the Wildcat Creek Watershed

Abstract

Wildcat Creek Watershed near Manhattan, Kansas, experiences damaging flash floods that have required evacuations in recent years (Spicer 2011). The purpose of this study was to qualitatively examine the issue of flooding in the Wildcat Creek Watershed through interviewing stakeholders (those that reside, own a business, or study) using a semi – structured approach. Interview discussion examined stakeholders’ perceptions of 1) how they understand the processes that create the flooding hazard, 2) whether or not they value the implementation of mitigation efforts to reduce the negative impacts of flooding, 3) whether they feel at risk to flooding, and 4) who they consider a trusted source of information about the hydrologic characteristics of the watershed. Based on the results of this study, a spatial relationship in perceptions of flooding issues in the Wildcat Creek Watershed was found. Across the study area, stakeholders understood many of the physical causes of flooding, but did not tend to see the connections among the many physical components. Overall, stakeholders believed that mitigation strategies to curb flash flooding were valuable, although many were not supportive of paying for these efforts through potential taxation from a watershed district. Despite the increase of flooding events in the past decade (Anderson 2011), many stakeholders neither saw any changes in their personal risk of exposure to flooding nor a change in their flood vulnerability. In the context of the flooding issue in Wildcat Creek Watershed, most participants trusted their neighbors and community leaders as sources of information instead of professionals who research and/or conduct work on the watershed.