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Water Quality
Survey in an Under-served Community: Lessons Learned
Sam O.
Dennis
Institute of
Agricultural and Environmental Research
Seminar Series
Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN
March 16, 2005
Recognizing the high level of interest in water quality research and
education in Native American communities and the potential for mutual
benefit in fostering 1890 Institution and 1994 Institution
collaborations, a survey instrument was designed to help identify water
quality issues in an underserved community in Tennessee with special
emphasis on the Native American tribal (Choctaw Indians) community in
Lauderdale County. The study is an outcome of the 1890 & 1994 Land-Grant
Institutions collaboration conference held in Nashville in November
2001. Though there is no Indian reservation with federally recognized
tribes in Tennessee, there are about 200 families of the Mississippi
Band of Choctaw Indians residing in the rural town of Henning in
Lauderdale County. We did not know what priorities this community placed
on water and water issues until the survey was completed. The sample
size consisted of 100 families and the survey delivery was a face to
face interview. For the most part, respondents weren’t worried about
water shortages because 90 percent of the respondents did not see it as
a problem. Additionally, 100 percent of the respondents saw clean water
as a very important issue for them.
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