Predicting community acceptability of alternative urban water supply systems: A decision making model

With the growing need for Australian cities to augment their water supplies, the community has displayed increasing interest in alternative water sources. Public attitudes have ranged from enthusiasm to concern, and in some cases have resulted in the rejection of potential new water supplies. To date, there has been little research that has attempted to examine and understand the basis of community acceptance of a new water supply system. This paper outlines a research program that aimed to develop a model of community acceptance that was consistent over different scales, source-points, end-uses and users of current and future water supply systems. It describes the development of an hypothesised model of community acceptance which incorporated a range of psycho-sociological variables. This then went through a preliminary assessment, followed by testing of the model, and finally a confirmatory stage of research. The program resulted in a robust model that can assist planners and developers in understanding and gaining community acceptance of alternative water supply systems at a range of spatial and temporal scales.