Resources for Water Advocates
Guide for high school students researching to educate citizens of Kansas about water issues and conservation practices.
Library Research Guide
Welcome!
Welcome to the Water Advocate's Research Guide! This guide is designed to help you learn how to research and present on local water issues. If this guide does not have the information you are looking for, don't hesitate to Ask A Librarian for help any time during the Libraries' service hours.
The Advocacy Cycle
As you plan advocacy projects, consider following something like this Advocacy Cycle. Below we mapped several of the research resources in this guide to the process described in this cycle.
Steps in the Advocacy Cycle
- Identify and analyze the issue
- Research Basics >> Getting Started >> Lessons >> Ask the Right Questions
- Set the goal and objectives
- Identify the stakeholders and decision makers
- Define the message and the "ask"
- Set your timeline
- Assess the resources, choose tactics and implement
- Monitor, evaluate, and share
Background Information
Kansas State Research and Extension (KSRE) has published the following relevant introductory reading for your research. Find more resources from KSRE on the Water Websites page of this guide.
- What's in Your WaterBasic description of water quality with a glossary and links to additional water resources.
- Water Primer: Part 1 (Overview)Publication describes sources and uses of water in Kansas.
- Water Primer: Part 2, The Hydrologic CycleLearn about how nature’s water purification system works in Kansas.
- Water Primer: Part 3, GroundwaterWhat is groundwater and how do we get it?
- Water Primer: Part 4, Surface WaterPublication includes maps of runoff, streamflow, and watersheds, and discusses watershed management.
- Water Primer: Part 5, Water LawHighlights the main features of water law in Kansas, including common law principles and legislation at the state and federal levels.
- Water Primer: Part 6, Water Agencies in KansasExplains the roles of federal, state, and local governmental agencies with water resource management responsibilities.
- Water Primer, Part 7: Municipal Water SupplyExplains the challenges surrounding municipal water supplies and the many ways the public supply is used.
- Water Primer, Part 9: The Kansas Water Budget and Water FootprintThis publication explains the Kansas portion of the hydrologic cycle and interaction of water supply sources and water-use demands, also called a water budget or water balance.
