About Mitch Tobin

Mitch Tobin, the editor of WaterPolls.org, is an award-winning author and multimedia journalist. After working as a reporter at the Napa Valley Register, Tucson Citizen, and Arizona Daily Star, Mitch was communications director at California Environmental Associates, where he conducted grantmaking evaluations and policy analysis of water and other issues. In 2014, Mitch started Sea to Snow LLC to provide consulting services to a variety of clients. Mitch graduated from Yale with a bachelor’s degree in Ethics, Politics and Economics and earned a master’s degree in political science from U.C. Berkeley. Follow Mitch on Twitter @mitchtobin

Conservation in the West poll: findings on water-related public opinion

Conservation in the West poll: findings on water-related public opinion The 2018 edition of Colorado College's Conservation in the West Poll has once again found strong support for protecting the region's water resources, as well as increasing concern about both quality and supply issues. When asked about environmental problems, "low levels of water in rivers" [...]

By |July 12th, 2018|American West, Conservation, Conservation in the West, Fairbank Maslin Maullin Metz & Associates, Issues, Public Opinion Strategies, Quality, Supply|Comments Off on Conservation in the West poll: findings on water-related public opinion

Updated synthesis and topical pages

Updated synthesis and topical pages Public opinion on water covers a slew of topics, not to mention different geographies, so I've tried to sum up what I've learned in our synthesis and topical pages. I've updated the synthesis page to include some new findings from recent polls that I've covered on WaterPolls.org. I also added some [...]

By |January 15th, 2018|Uncategorized|Comments Off on Updated synthesis and topical pages

Water pollution near top of America’s fears

Water pollution near top of America's fears A May 2017 poll found that water pollution, air pollution, and climate change rank high on Americans' list of top fears. Concern about environmental problems was much higher than during the 2016 survey, and the spike in worry was likely due to the intervening election. The Chapman University [...]

By |December 4th, 2017|Climate change, Communications, Drought, Flooding, Quality, United States|Comments Off on Water pollution near top of America’s fears

Q&A with Wade Crowfoot, CEO of the Water Foundation

Q&A with Wade Crowfoot, CEO of the Water Foundation Wade Crowfoot, CEO of Water Foundation What do Westerners think about water issues? What worries them? What policies do they support? Where is there consensus and division? To answer these questions, the Water Foundation recently commissioned a wide-ranging public opinion survey of voters in [...]

By |November 15th, 2017|American West, Climate change, Conservation, Cost, Drought, Groundwater, Infrastructure, Quality, Supply|Comments Off on Q&A with Wade Crowfoot, CEO of the Water Foundation

Presentation: Insights on Customer Attitudes Toward Water

Presentation: Insights on Customer Attitudes Toward Water I recently delivered a presentation on water-related public opinion to the annual meeting of the California Water Association in Monterey. Feel free to use slides from this PowerPoint deck in your work. Here's an embed from SlideShare, where you can also view, download, and share the presentation: Insights on [...]

By |November 9th, 2017|American West, California, Climate change, Conservation, Drought, Infrastructure, Quality, Recycled water, Supply|Comments Off on Presentation: Insights on Customer Attitudes Toward Water

12 takeaways from new Water Foundation poll of 12 Western states

12 takeaways from new Water Foundation poll of 12 Western states A new Water Foundation poll of voters in 12 Western states has found a convergence of opinion on water problems and solutions. To be sure, there are partisan, geographic, and demographic differences in the sprawling, diverse region, but overall the results point to more [...]

AP-NORC poll examines link between climate change and severe weather

AP-NORC poll examines link between climate change and severe weather Nearly 7 in 10 Americans say that weather disasters are becoming more severe, according to a new survey by the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Among those who think the weather is getting more extreme, nearly half believe the trend is mostly or entirely [...]

By |October 31st, 2017|AP-NORC, Climate change, United States|Comments Off on AP-NORC poll examines link between climate change and severe weather

Stanford study probes psychological resistance to recycled water

Stanford study probes psychological resistance to recycled water Stanford researchers have found that Californians' views on recycled water depend heavily on how that water is eventually used. The study, which appeared in the August 2017 issue of Water and Environment Journal, revealed that psychological resistance to using treated effluent can be reduced, to some extent, [...]

By |October 17th, 2017|California, Communications, Recycled water|Comments Off on Stanford study probes psychological resistance to recycled water

Most Americans link climate change and hurricane severity

Most Americans link climate change and hurricane severity A new ABC News-Washington Post poll has found that a majority of Americans believe climate change has intensified recent hurricanes. Compared to similar polling done in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, a higher share of Americans linked global warming to more severe tropical storms. The [...]

By |October 3rd, 2017|Climate change, Flooding, United States|Comments Off on Most Americans link climate change and hurricane severity

FEMA’s polling on flooding risks and mitigation

FEMA's flooding surveys have polled the general public and local officials about flooding risks. Learn more and download free graphics.

By |September 13th, 2017|Flooding, United States|Comments Off on FEMA’s polling on flooding risks and mitigation