State of Oklahoma Water Resources Board Project

In Cooperation with The University of Oklahoma

I want to thank you in advance for agreeing to spend time discussing with us your knowledge and interests in water and wastewater management projects in Your Town. This project is sponsored by the State of Oklahoma Water Resources Board, X, and the University of Oklahoma. The following is a brief guide intended to let you know what to expect when we conduct an interview.

We are interested in your thoughts on the economic, environmental, and social impacts you have seen in Your Town. You have been contacted because of your knowledge, expertise, and experience related to this topic. However, we are not looking for what is “correct,” but want to hear and understand your stories and impressions. We want to know the situation on the ground for the city of Your Town. In the future we plan to use what we have learned to build a model for how to study other communities across the United States, evaluating the impacts of water infrastructure investments.

Let me stress that we believe this to be an important project because it is the first of its kind. While federal and state governments have been spending large sums on water infrastructure projects for decades, until the present no one has taken the time to hear what impact these projects have on local communities. Knowledge gained from this study will be of benefit not only to the city of Your Town, but to communities across the state of Oklahoma and across the nation.

The following is a list of some of the topics that will be discussed during the interview:

1)  Your personal background, role in Your Town, involvement in water projects.

2)  Knowledge of people, businesses, and issues involving Your Town.

3)  Your understanding of the benefits, purposes, problems, and impacts of water infrastructure projects in Your Town.

4)  Any other thoughts or concerns that you may have.

The interview will last about 1 hour. With your permission we will take notes of the interview and make an audio recording to help us analyze and review what was spoken. Following the interview we will leave a survey for you to fill out and mail back to us.

If at any time during or after the interview you wish to discontinue the discussion or withdraw your consent to participate, this request will be honored. Any notes or recordings that we have made will be destroyed.

Finally, after completing and writing the study, we plan to send you a copy of our report.

If you have any further questions feel free to contact me.

Best Regards,

Todd L. Sandel, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

University of Oklahoma

Department of Communication

610 Elm Avenue, Norman, OK 73072

Tel: 405-325-1809

Cell: 405-443-6125

Email:

Brandon Jones, Doctoral Student

University of Oklahoma

Department of Communication

610 Elm Avenue, Norman, OK 73072

Tel: 405-819-9582

Email: