PLANNING ATTITUDES, LAY PHILOSOPHIES, AND WATER ALLOCATION - A PRELIMINARY-ANALYSIS AND RESEARCH AGENDA

Despite the important societal consequences of water policy, community attitudes toward planning, ethics, and equity for allocation of water have received little research attention. This preliminary research wa s conducted to assess the range and structure of planning attitudes an d equity and ethical considerations which might be relevant to the gen eral public's evaluation of water allocation systems. The relationship of these to priorities for water allocation were also examined. The r esults showed a complex structure for planning attitudes. There were a lso generalized but clearly defined community approaches to water allo cation. A number of significant relationships between planning attitud es and philosophies of allocation were shown. Planning attitudes also related to priorities for water allocation. In practical terms the res earch provides some preliminary, ethically based evaluative criteria w hich could be applied to allocation decision-making systems. Theoretic al research possibilities are also outlined.