Private well stewardship within a rural, agricultural Latino community: a qualitative study

Abstract

Background: Nitrate contamination in groundwater disproportionately impacts agricultural Latino communities, creating a significant hazard for Latinos that rely on private wells. Private well users must conduct water testing and other well stewardship behaviors to ensure their well water is safe to drink. This study sought to identify the key behavioral factors of private well water testing in rural, agricultural Latino communities. Methods: We conducted four focus groups with private well users, two in Spanish and two in English. We recruited 37 participants from the Lower Yakima Valley, Washington State, a rural, agricultural community with a large Latino population and elevated nitrate concentrations in groundwater. A semi-structured interview guide was developed to capture factors impacting testing as guided by the Risk, Attitudes, Norms, Ability, and Self-Regulation (RANAS) model. Inductive thematic analysis was conducted by two coders to identify common themes. Results: Themes emerged around the behavioral factors impacting well stewardship, including well testing, treatment, and maintenance, and were not specific to nitrate contamination. Private well users reported many of the same factors reported in other communities. Lack of actionable information, economic limitations, and lack of technical support were reported as factors that made well stewardship burdensome and encouraged bottled water use. Home repair experience among Spanish focus group participants and challenges around landlords and shared wells emerged as themes that have not been reported in the literature previously. Conclusions The burden of well stewardship in rural, agricultural Latino communities may suggest the need for interventions at the community, county, or state levels. As these solutions are being developed, well stewardship programs may want to prioritize providing actionable information and technical support to private well users. The role that landlords, shared well users, and home repair experience play in well stewardship represent important areas of exploration for researchers and public health practitioners.

Water insecurity in the Global North: A review of experiences in U.S. colonias communities along the Mexico border

“…In U.S. colonias, for example, brigadas de limpia (clean-up brigades) are a form of social infrastructure that helps remedy stormwater damage (Vélez-Ib añez, 2004). Extension programs that may exist for other rural populations, like well-owners' associations, may be offered to colonias so that residents can benefit from well stewardship support (VanDerGeest et al, 2020). Like social capital (Roque et al, 2020), social infrastructure can amplify the impact of community efforts to build soft paths to water provision, treatment, and conservation (Wutich & Jepson, 2021).…”