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Dear High Plains Water District,

Upon receiving the request to work alongside HPWD in creating a plan to increase

awareness of the organization and water conservation, MAACK PR was honored to work with

an organization so close and important to Lubbock, Amarillo, and 14 additional surrounding

cities.

Throughout the next bundle of pages you will read our campaign plan, all of which is

based off of extensive efforts, research, creative tactics and strategic thinking. We believe that

executing this specific campaign plan will allow HPWD to increase awareness of the

organization and water conservation, in addition to giving HPWD a positive reputation. If any

questions arrive please contact me at courtney.bier@ttu.edu, or 832-797-1468.

MAACK PR is excited to see the awareness levels of HPWD increase across all counties

within the organization and within our city of founding, Lubbock. Thank you for the opportunity

to work on a project that benefits the environment and communities involved.

With all sincerity,

Courtney Bier

MAACK PR

Account Executive, 2014

832-797-1468

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Campaign Summary 5

Situational Analysis 6

Executive Summary 7

Problem Statement 8

Factors 9

o Internal 9

o External 11

Relevant Publics 12

S.W.O.T. Analysis 12

Current Situation 14

References 16

Research Findings 17

Executive Summary 18

Introduction 19

Research Plan 20

Methodology 21

o Populations 21

o Samples and Sampling Techniques 22

o Instruments 23

o Data Collection and Procedures 24

o Data Analysis 25

Findings 25

o Survey 25

o Focus Group Data 28

Interpretation 30

Campaign Plan 36

Executive Summary 37

Introduction 39

Target Publics 39

Campaign Plan 40

o Theme 40

o Key and Supporting Messages 41

Goals, Objectives, Strategies and Tactics 41

o Tactics

Implementation Timeline and Budget 53

Contacts 55

Conclusion 56

References 58

Tactics 59

Appendices

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To create a successful campaign for the High Plains Water District, MAACK PR devised

a plan to increase awareness and education of water conservation in the Lubbock area by 10

percent. By targeting Lubbock residents and the Texas Tech community, we hope to reach the

majority of the Hub city. MAACK PR created goals, tactics, strategies and objectives to reach

our goal of increased awareness and education. MAACK PR created events that will bring

Lubbock residents and the Texas Tech community together, and educate them on what HPWD

does and wants to achieve in the community. We believe that by hosting events such as WED

Wednesday and Go Green x HPWD at Texas Tech, it will bring the community together while

educating participants and raising awareness of HPWD.

MAACK PR chose the campaign name Well Water, Well Being because it is important to

remind Lubbock residents and the Texas Tech community that conserving water and using

community wide efforts will create positive effects for themselves and the people after them. By

implementing goals and tactics, MAACK PR hopes to increase awareness and education to

HPWD by eight to 10 percent.

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Executive Summary

The High Plains Water District (HPWD) works with 16 counties in the Texas Panhandle

with the hope of spreading awareness about conserving water and preventing wasteful use.

According to the Topeka Capital-Journal, the Ogallala Aquifer has dropped 325 billion gallons

every year for the past four decades (cjonline.com). HPWD is determined to spread awareness of

the issue and the mission of the organization to target specific audiences.

HPWD currently has two people working for the organization who specialize in

communication roles, making it difficult for information to be sent to publics. According to

Adeline Fox’s presentation, HPWD has a marketing consultant and no public relations

professionals. HPWD has many strengths, including a large budget, and the organization does

not foresee any financial crisis in the future. With multiple connections to media outlets, the

organization has many ways that it can connect to target publics in hope of spreading its message

about water conservation and the effects that the current drought could have on residential water

supply.

With the help of community leaders, the organization has the ability to spread positive

awareness of who they are, what they do and how important it is for individuals to conserve

water. According to Adeline Fox, one of the target publics, residential, is under the impression

that HPWD sets the price for water, when in fact they do not. With water prices increasing, the

situation is not favorable for the image of the HPWD. Community leaders can use word-of-

mouth to spread positive and accurate information about HPWD.

A problem HPWD faces, is the large area that covers 16 different counties, making it

difficult to spread a positive and consistent message to all individuals. The organization works in

collaboration with other water districts instead of competing with them, allowing for

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synchronization across district messages and efforts. The opportunity to work with other water

districts will circulate more messages about water conservation.

Reinventing HPWD’s image with the public in mind will allow the community to engage

in the organization’s goals. The organization will educate publics on serious issues involving

water conservation by identifying communication targets. HPWD will help publics monitor their

daily water consumption to make water last.

Problem Statement

HPWD faces problems and weaknesses in terms of reputation, market position and

reactivity. The drought has also raised concern for HPWD and district managers are worried

about a diminishing water resource. According to the Topeka Capital-Journal, what is used to

irrigate almost 1.7 million acres of farmland within the district, is much more. According to the

Topeka-Journal, “What most people in this city don’t understand is their livelihood is connected

to agriculture,” said Darren Hudson, director of Cotton Economics Research Institute at Tech.

The biggest problem HPWD wants to address is the misinterpretation the residential public has

of the district. According to Adeline Fox, HPWD is associated with a negative connotation of

being a regulatory agency.

Potential opportunities that could affect HPWD include: the size of the water district,

quantification of information received, a two-member communication staff, and delivering

messages to different demographics. HPWD is the largest water district in Texas according to

HPWD, allowing for the organization to make a difference in water conservation and awareness

amongst a large population. A two-member communications staff allows for creative thinking

and planning without the amount of restriction that could come with working for a larger

company.

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The Ogallala Aquifer supplies water to many cities in West Texas and is barely able to

keep up with the demand. According to the Center for Geospatial Technology at Texas Tech,

four other counties have fewer than 15 years before running out of groundwater (cjonline.com).

Without increasing the level of water conservation awareness and recognition of HPWD, the

aquifer will become depleted, leaving numerous counties without a water source.

Factors

Internal Factors

The High Plains Water District was created in 1951. According to the Topeka Capital-

Journal, the Ogallala Aquifer extends 174,000 square miles beneath portions of eight states from

South Dakota to Texas in one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world

(cjonline.com). The mission of HPWD is to ensure that the community is aware of their efforts to

help protect and conserve aquifers within urban, agricultural and industrial areas.

The vision of the High Plains Water District is to increase awareness from surrounding

communities. HPWD would like surrounding communities such as Parmer and Lubbock to

understand what their purpose is when trying to communicate the benefits of water conservation.

HPWD values how much information about water conservation the community has been

exposed to. HPWD wants the community to learn their key messages from their education

program. HPWD conducts water conservation education programs and uses the WaterWise

materials to distribute plumbing fixtures among students within the district (hpwd.org).

HPWD is the “First groundwater conservation district created in Texas. The original

grounds were delineated in 1951 by the State of Board Engineers,” (hpwd.org). Many counties

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have joined HPWD over the years. “HPWD serves an area of 11,850 square miles (7,587,359)

which includes all 16 counties,” (hpwd.org).

The counties include:

Potter

Deaf Smith

Randall

Armstrong

Parmer

Castro

Swisher

Bailey

Lamb

Hale

Floyd

Cochran

Hockley

Lubbock

Crosby

Lynn

The Board of Directors’ is made up of five members who are elected by residents in each

of the director’s precincts. Directors are in charge of approving final water well permit

applications. Within their four-year terms, board members oversee district operations, programs

and activities (hpwd.org).

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HPWD is a nonprofit organization. According to Adeline Fox, all funding comes from

tax revenue. According to the HPWD media kit, HPWD is a taxing entity of Texas and the

current tax rate is $0.00810 per $100 valuation (hpwd.org). With the $3 million budget, HPWD

can collaborate with other water districts to set up events and create awareness of water

conservation (hpwd.org). According to Adeline Fox, HPWD has an estimated budget of

$100,000- $125,000.

External Factors

Much of Texas suffers from severe drought. This can cause a shortage in food and affect

the income of many farmers. As an effect of this, HPWD continues to educate individuals in

their region on how to conserve water using simple efforts such as, turning the water off sooner,

taking shorter showers and saving rain water.

One of the strengths within HPWD is that the organization works with other water

districts to help spread the word on how to conserve water, as well as how to continue to

improve the strength of their messages.

However, being one of the largest water districts in Texas brings challenges. It can

become difficult to get messages across and please all of the different demographics within the

water district. With HPWD covering such a large area, it is possible that the target message gets

miscommunicated. Having different demographics within the region of the 16 counties makes it

more difficult for HPWD to have one effective message. Messages about water conservation,

preventive measures and attempts at raising awareness of HPWD, must be tailored and relatable

to all target publics. HPWD wants to quantify the amount of information the organization can get

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across in order to educate the different demographics on the severity and importance of water

conservation.

Relevant Publics

Residential areas are the biggest target audience for this campaign. The individuals who

live within HPWD’s city boundaries have no accurate information about HPWD. These

individuals are under the impression that HPWD controls the water prices, when they do not,

according to Adeline Fox. Lubbock and Amarillo are the main areas of interest because of their

large populations in contrast to other areas in the district. By further educating Lubbock and

Amarillo residents on the importance of water conservation, HPWD will be able to see a

substantial change in water conservation. By educating the two largest populations in the water

district, Lubbock and Amarillo, HPWD can spread their message to a large amount of

individuals who have the ability to spread the message by word-of-mouth to other surrounding

cities.

S.W.O.T. Analysis

Strengths

With the strengths HPWD has, the organization will show target audiences the benefits of

conserving water. HPWD has many connections with media outlets, such as local news stations,

allowing them to shed light on the current water problem, such as drought, within the district.

According to Adeline Fox, since HPWD is paid in taxes, they do not see financial crisis in the

future. The current drought situation allows HPWD to make their message of water conservation

relatable, using the drought as an example of why target publics should save water. Many

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variations of public messages are readily prepared in case of urgent need. With a new vision for

HPWD, MAACK PR would be favorable to both the company and the target audiences because

of creative abilities and awareness of one of the target residential areas, Lubbock.

Weaknesses

HPWD works with 16 counties, making it more difficult to distribute information to the

16 counties. A communications staff of two individuals, creates difficulty for HPWD to raise

awareness of their organization, since they cover such a large area in Texas. HPWD is not

equally utilizing all of their social media outlets to the full extent. This lack of social media

growth limits the interaction, creating a strain for the company’s messages in terms of getting it

to target publics who will create a change.

Opportunities

HPWD has the opportunity to partner with other surrounding water districts. HPWD does

not view other districts as a threat because they collaborate to inform their publics about water

conservation. HPWD conducts a water conservation education program and use WaterWise kits

containing efficient plumbing fixtures. HPWD will reach out to higher-level education such as

college campuses in the area. This will create and educate a new target audience. College

campuses, like Texas Tech University, are great publics to target because of the amount of water

these universities use on a daily basis.

Threats

The main threat to HPWD is the severe drought. Sixty-nine percent of the Ogallala

Aquifer is expected to dry up within the next 50 years (National Geographic). This is a huge

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threat to HPWD because the Aquifer is the main source of water to the 16 counties within the

organization.

Current Situation

The organization must implement new strategies and tactics. An example of a current

effort to reach target audiences is going to schools and talking about the importance of water

conservation. MAACK PR believes HPWD will increase awareness levels by expanding their

target audiences and establishing relationships with students.

Audiences such as Lubbock and Amarillo residents, currently have a negative perception

of HPWD. After negative news coverage and rumors that HPWD controls water prices, publics

are not in favor of the organization according to Adeline Fox. Target audiences place blame on

high water prices with the district. Trying to reach audiences and change the behaviors of those

who are seemingly convinced, proves strenuous for a campaign that is trying to completely

change their image. HPWD will overcome these obstacles as they teach individuals in residential

and urban areas, how they can conserve water, proving themselves to be an aid to the

community. As HPWD works with community leaders in the appropriate cities, the organization

can create a positive reputation through campaigns and word-of-mouth.

Current social media outlets have been of use to the campaign, as they are an internal

communication for users as they receive positive and negative feedback that has been given

about the organization. The company’s website is useful to show how previous attempts to

spread awareness have worked or have not for the company. The website allows the campaign to

share information about what the organization is currently doing and what they have done in the

past.

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By working directly with HPWD to improve their image, MAACK PR believes they will

assist HPWD in reaching their goals as an organization. HPWD will help spread awareness and

educate target publics about current water issues with tips to easily conserve water. By looking at

the behaviors of the target audiences, Texas Tech students and Lubbock and Amarillo residents,

MAACK PR has found how to better reach publics and get the correct information across to

them.

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1. National Geographic: “Groundwater California Drought: Aquifer’s Hidden Crisis”

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/140819-groundwater-california-

drought-aquifers-hidden-crisis/

2. National Geographic: “Drought Hastens Groundwater Depletion in the Texas Panhandle”

http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2014/07/24/drought-hastens-groundwater-

depletion-in-the-texas-panhandle/

3. The Wichita Eagle: “High Plains Aquifer will be depleted in 50 years, K-State study

says”

http://www.kansas.com/news/article1121517.html

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Executive Summary

Through research MAACK PR hoped to find current awareness levels of our target

publics, Texas Tech students, and Amarillo and Lubbock residents. MAACK was interested in

understanding the attitudes of individuals in the residential areas of Amarillo, Texas and

Lubbock, Texas. MAACK was also interested in seeing if students at Texas Tech were aware of

HPWD, because Texas Tech uses the most water in Lubbock according to the Lubbock-

Avalanche Journal.

Surveying 150 Lubbock residents and 84 Amarillo residents, MAACK was able to see

current awareness levels between the two cities. MAACK also hosted two focus groups, one

consisting of five Lubbock residents, and one consisting of 10 Texas Tech students. Both focus

groups gave us more insight to the level of awareness that students at Texas Tech and individuals

in Lubbock have of HPWD.

MAACK PR found that residents in Lubbock have a much lower awareness level of

HPWD than those of residents in Amarillo, even though HPWD is headquartered in Lubbock.

Overall, individuals seemed to be primarily unaware of HPWD. Our research found that

residents in Amarillo had heard about HPWD through radio, internet and news. Lubbock

residents who were aware of HPWD had heard about the company through their local news

station as well.

When asked about the Ogallala Aquifer in online surveys and paper-and-pencil

questionnaire, residents in Amarillo had much higher awareness levels and were more

knowledgeable about what the aquifer does, than residents in Lubbock.

Amarillo residents were more concerned with water conservation than Lubbock residents.

Amarillo residents had higher awareness levels regarding what a well permit is than Lubbock

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residents. These findings were discovered through online surveys and paper-and-pencil

questionnaires.

An interesting finding brought to the attention of MAACK from Amarillo residents’ was

the confusion between CRMWA (Canadian River Municipal Water Authority) and HPWD.

Amarillo residents seemed to be confused on what the difference between the two were, or

thought that one was responsible for things that the other did. This was found out through our

online surveys and paper-and-pencil questionnaires.

Using our research MAACK PR interpreted our data and used it to inform a campaign

plan called, Well Water, Well Being, which is aimed at increasing awareness levels of HPWD

across target populations.

Introduction

For MAACK PR to develop a successful campaign for HPWD, we needed to rely heavily

on quantitative and qualitative research in order to further understand our target publics, Texas

Tech students and Lubbock and Amarillo residents. From Oct. 1 to Oct. 25, MAACK PR

conducted primary research. We gathered our data from the populations most affected by our

campaign, including the students of Texas Tech University, and residents of Lubbock and

Amarillo.

In order to properly and effectively reach these publics, we used a variety of research

methods, including two focus groups, and a survey that we distributed online and via paper-and-

pencil. This combination of the research methods were used to help gather the levels of

awareness for our client, HPWD. Among these populations, information was gathered about the

perceptions of HPWD across the target publics to reach the needs of our client.

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Using the data collected from our research, MAACK PR identified relevant and critical

information, for curating a campaign. This will increase our target publics awareness levels of

HPWD and will also increase public perception of HPWD by our target public. By gaining more

awareness levels of HPWD we will be able to better reach HPWD’s goals.

Research Plan

Research Goals

· The purpose of the research was to identify the levels of awareness of HPWD among the

residential sectors of Amarillo, Texas and Lubbock, Texas.

· The purpose of the research was to understand the citizens’ attitudes of the residential areas of

Amarillo, Texas and Lubbock, Texas.

· To ultimately reach HPWD’s goals of overall awareness of their organization.

Research Questions

· RQ1: Are Texas Tech students and Lubbock and Amarillo residents aware of HPWD?

· RQ2: What are the attitudes towards HPWD by Texas Tech students and Lubbock and

Amarillo residents?

· RQ3: Are Texas Tech students and Lubbock and Amarillo residents aware of a well permit and

its purpose?

· RQ4: Are Texas Tech students and Lubbock and Amarillo residents concerned about water

conservation?

· RQ5: What are the best ways to enhance awareness of HPWD among Texas Tech students and

Lubbock and Amarillo residents?

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· RQ6: What are the best ways to promote a positive perception of HPWD among Texas Tech

students and Lubbock and Amarillo residents?

Research Objectives:

· Survey 75 adult residents of Amarillo, Texas.

· Conduct a focus group with 10 students at Texas Tech.

· Conduct a focus group with 10 Lubbock residents.

· Survey 75 students at Texas Tech.

· Survey 75 adult residents of Lubbock, Texas.

Overview

MAACK PR used both quantitative and qualitative research to find out how aware

residents in Lubbock and Amarillo are of HPWD. By interpreting the results of the survey and

focus groups, MAACK PR was able to see the different ways individuals view HPWD. These

research findings allowed MAACK PR to see how HPWD needs to change opposing opinions

and how they can educate target populations on the organizations current objectives. MAACK

PR interpreted the results from our surveys and analyzed them to further our research.

Two focus groups were held on Tuesday, October 7, 2014, at 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. in

the Texas Tech University College of Media and Communication’s focus group lab. MAACK

PR found qualitative data to understand how individuals within the water district feel about

HPWD. This information gave HPWD more insight of the direction in which the campaign

needed to go.

Methodology

Population

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Total population= 234

Lubbock Residents= 150

Residents

Texas Tech Students

Amarillo Residents= 84

Sampling and Sampling Techniques:

Ten Texas Tech students and 10 Lubbock, Texas residents were selected by phone call

and email to conduct two different focus groups. This technique allowed MAACK PR to use

Texas Tech students and Lubbock residents as subjects who volunteered to participate in the

focus groups through our personal contacts.

Seventy-five students at Texas Tech University in Lubbock were recruited to take the

survey. We recruited students to take the survey through Qualtrics and we posted the survey link

on our personal social media accounts, including Facebook and Twitter. We also recruited

students in person using paper-and-pencil questionnaire. Texas Tech students were selected

because MAACK PR found it interesting that Texas Tech consumes over 387 million gallons of

water in one year, making it the top consumer of water in the Lubbock area and surrounding

populations according to the Lubbock-Avalanche Journal.

MAACK PR chose to conduct paper-and-pencil questionnaires in Amarillo because

HPWD’s boundaries and services cross into Palmer County, where Amarillo is located. Because

of this, MAACK PR felt that Amarillo was a prime area to conduct research on HPWD’s

awareness levels among those residents. Amarillo is also one of the largest cities in HPWD’s

boundaries, which makes it an important city to target.

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Paper-and-pencil questionnaires were distributed to Lubbock residents at various stores,

kiosks, and the food court of the South Plains Mall. MAACK PR chose Lubbock because HPWD

is headquartered within the city at 2930 Avenue Q, Lubbock, Texas, according to the HPWD

website.

Instruments

The survey consisted of 22 questions, which included a mix of closed and open-ended

questions. Close-ended questions included questions such as, “Are you aware of High Plains

Water District?” Participants taking the survey had the option to select a “yes” or “no” answer.

Demographic questions were included at the end of the survey to determine each participant’s

gender, age and location (Lubbock or Amarillo), allowing MAACK to determine which target

population individuals were in.

Our survey was posted online through the Qualtrics website. Qualtrics is an online survey

tool that allows people to create detailed and thorough surveys and polls. The survey featured a

variety of qualitative and quantitative questions, including Likert-type scales, semantic

differential scales, rank-order scaling and open and closed-ended questions. We included various

questions that pertained to awareness levels of HPWD, including social media presence and

awareness. The survey included questions about social media usage and the drought the South

Plains is currently experiencing, because West Texas has been in severe drought for over three

years, beginning in 2010 (stateimpact.npr.org).

Our moderator, Courtney Bier, asked open-ended questions during each focus group to

keep participants engaged in conversation. Responses from open-ended questions allowed

MAACK to receive elaborate feedback that went beyond our original questions. Questions such

as, “How did you hear about HPWD?” were asked to see the different ways individuals had

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heard of the organization. Our moderator asked questions such as, “If you use social media, what

platforms do you use?” and then eased into more in-depth questions about HPWD. This helped

the flow of the focus group and created an easy conversation.

The moderator guide was created based on the needs of HPWD with a focus on

awareness. Each question was generated by MAACK PR’s interests and concerns that we

considered from a situational analysis of HPWD and a presentation of HPWD, curated by

Adeline Fox.

Data Collection Procedures

Our recruitment process started on Oct. 7 for our survey and for our focus groups.

Account manager, Courtney Bier, was the moderator for each focus group. Pizza and drinks were

offered as incentives to each focus group participant. Our focus groups consisted of 10 Lubbock

residents at 5:30 p.m. and 10 Texas Tech students at 6:30 p.m. in the College of Media and

Communications focus group room located in the basement of the building. We chose these two

publics for the focus groups to pinpoint where HPWD can improve when it comes to awareness.

We chose Texas Tech students to participate in the focus group, because Texas Tech ranks

number one on the top water consumer list, with 387 million gallons of water being used in 2013

alone by the University, according to the Lubbock-Avalanche Journal.

The data collection period for the survey ended on Oct. 26 at 5 p.m. At that point,

MAACK PR began to compile the data into Excel spreadsheets and allow our research to tell us

where we needed to focus our collective efforts. MAACK PR then interpreted our findings from

the survey and focus groups.

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Paper-and-pencil questionnaires were distributed throughout the South Plains Mall in

Lubbock, Texas, in various stores. Questionnaires were also distributed at the Westgate Mall,

Starbucks and Cold Stone Creamery in Amarillo, Texas.

Data Analysis

MAACK PR analyzed survey results using Excel spreadsheets in which we downloaded

the information from Qualtrics, in addition to comparing answers for the different age groups

and comparing awareness between Lubbock and Amarillo. We were also looking for percentages

between categories to help us better understand trends in our data collection.

MAACK re-coded open-ended responses and created a new Excel sheet to analyze data.

We transcribed the two focus groups we conducted and analyzed trends that seemed to be

recurring responses from each focus group.

Findings

MAACK PR obtained large amounts of interesting data from the questionnaires each

participant completed. Both of our conducted focus groups gave creative responses to open-

ended questions that were not thought of before data collection.

Demographics

Gender:

Forty-two percent of people who participated in our online and paper surveys were male. Fifty-

seven percent were female.

Location:

Participants who took the survey were in the Lubbock and Amarillo areas. We wanted to make

sure that we only took data from these two cities.

Age:

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Participants were between the ages of 17-65.

What is the purpose of a well permit?

When asked what the purpose of a well permit was, 55 percent of the 234 people

surveyed were unaware of what it was and why a well permit is required. Forty-five percent were

aware of a well permit.

How concerned about water conservation are you?

When asked how concerned individuals were with water conservation on a Likert scale

from “1” being “unconcerned” and “5” being “very concerned”, 28 percent were not concerned.

Thirty-seven percent chose “4”and “5” on the Likert scale, illustrating that they were concerned.

This finding shows that more of the target audience surveyed (Lubbock and Amarillo) were more

concerned with water conservation than not concerned.

Have you heard of HPWD?

When asked if participants had heard of HPWD, out of the 234 people surveyed, 30

percent in Lubbock said they had heard of HPWD, while 70 percent had not. Out of the 84

people surveyed in Amarillo, 48 percent of Amarillo residents had heard of HPWD, while 52

percent had not. This suggests that more Amarillo residents had heard of HPWD than Lubbock

residents.

A few Amarillo residents surveyed noted in the survey that they did not know about

HPWD, but they did know about the Canadian River Municipal Water Authority, and has stated

that they did not understand the difference between the two.

What is your perception of HPWD?

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Surveyed participants were asked what their perception of HPWD was on a scale from -2

being very negative and 2 being very positive. Out of the 234 survey participants, only six people

answered with “-2” (27 percent) and the most being zero (neutral), at 77 percent.

How did you hear about HPWD?

When asked how participants had heard of HPWD, out of 234 participants, twenty-six

percent had not heard of HPWD. Sixteen percent were aware of what HPWD does. The 16

percent of Lubbock participants that were aware of HPWD became aware of HPWD through the

news and media.

Overall, more Amarillo residents were aware of HPWD than Lubbock residents. Most of

these Amarillo residents found out through news and internet.

How frequently do you use the following types of media?

The primary social media platform used by surveyed participants was Facebook at 51

percent. Out of 234 participants, nine percent said they follow HPWD on Facebook.

What is the Ogallala Aquifer?

MAACK PR found that 60 percent of Lubbock residents who were surveyed did not

know what the Ogallala Aquifer was. Forty percent of Lubbock residents knew about the

Ogallala Aquifer. In Amarillo, 46 percent of individuals did not know what the aquifer was, 54

percent were aware of it.

How concerned about water conservation are you?

Of the individuals surveyed in Lubbock about concerns towards water conservation, 40

percent were concerned and 28 percent were not concerned. The percent of participants in

Amarillo that were not concerned was 15 percent and 39 percent were concerned. Thirty-two

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percent of Lubbock residents had neutral concerns and 31 percent of Amarillo residents had

neutral level concerns.

What is your age? Are you aware of HPWD?

When analyzing data based on age groups, the age group who was most aware of HPWD

were ages 20-27 at 30 percent. Sixty-six percent of individuals between the ages of 50-57 were

aware, while 28 percent of ages 17-19 were aware. Seventy-one percent of ages 16-19 were not

aware of HPWD while 33 percent of 50-54 year olds were unaware.

Are you interested in learning more about how to conserve water?

Amongst all populations, MAACK PR found that 57 percent of individuals in Lubbock

and Amarillo said they would want to know more about how to conserve water, while 43 percent

did not want to learn how to conserve

water.

What is your gender?

MAACK PR found that 15 percent of males that participated in the survey were aware of

what HPWD is. Twenty-one percent of females were also aware. The percent of males that were

unaware was 26 percent and 35 percent of females were unaware.

Focus group data

In the Lubbock residential focus group, the moderator protocol was used and the

moderator asked questions that were from the survey MAACK PR created. The moderator asked

what participants thought HPWD could do to bring more awareness to themselves. Lubbock

residents felt that HPWD should try to get a filler spot on the radio, because it is cheap and they

are always looking for businesses to take up time. Residents thought reaching out to news

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stations to get a spot on the 5 p.m. news would be helpful in order for residents to learn easy tips

on how to conserve water.

Focus group participant, Justin, from Lubbock, Texas, said, “I feel like at 5 o’clock, they

are just begging for people to come in and talk to them about things.”

Another participant followed up on Justin’s comment. Jessica thought it would be a good

idea for HPWD to partner up with the Lubbock Home Builders Association and place signs

outside of homes that are on the market. These signs would include quick tips on how to

conserve water and would include HPWD’s logo.

When asked about media habits, there was an overall trend that MAACK found. Most

participants used their phone to check the news because it was the most convenient. Focus group

members said they use different apps on their phone for news such as CNN and Fox News.

Reasons to conserve water differed throughout the Lubbock resident focus group. Two of

the participants conserved water due to personal reasons such as, coming from a small town that

is severely in drought and having a hobby that would not be possible without a great amount of

water.

Lubbock resident, Lauren said, “I just don't want my water bill to be like a ridiculous

amount.”

Focus group members agreed that the cost of their water bill was a primary motivation

for them to conserve water.

In the focus group held with Texas Tech students, 100 percent of participants were

unaware of what HPWD was and what it stands for. Very few participants were interested in

learning more about HPWD. Students were hesitant about what the content would be if they

looked into how to conserve water.

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Twenty-one year old Texas Tech student, Zack said, “Don't force feed someone because

you are not going to break a habit like that.”

Twenty-two year old Texas Tech student, Katie brought up an idea to get more people

aware of what HPWD is.

“Creating an interactive survey to find out how much water you are using a day would be

a good way to inform people on what HPWD is,” Katie said.

When asked why students conserve water, 21-year-old Texas Tech student, Kahlie

responded saying, “It’s money. It’s all about money, we are all broke college students.”

Interpretation

What MAACK PR found through data collection is that levels of awareness of HPWD

are low in both Lubbock/Texas Tech and Amarillo, with Lubbock being less aware than

Amarillo.

MAACK PR’s findings suggest that residents of Amarillo are more exposed to HPWD

through news coverage, radio and the internet than Lubbock residents. MAACK PR found this

extremely odd as Palmer County, where Amarillo lies, is barely serviced by HPWD’s boundaries

(extreme south/southwest corner of the county). What is even more striking about these findings

is that, according to the data collected, the level of awareness of HPWD among Lubbock

residents is very low, despite HPWD being headquartered in Lubbock.

Amarillo residents are much more aware about the Ogallala Aquifer and what its purpose

is, compared to Lubbock residents. Considering that the HPWD works with the Ogallala, they

could benefit greatly from educating the public about what the aquifer is and why it is so

important to Lubbock residents and the local economy.

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Amarillo residents are much more diligent in water conservation efforts than Lubbock.

Along with that, among the Amarillo residents surveyed, more have heard about a well permit

and what it does than Lubbock residents surveyed, but only seldom few knew exactly what a

well permit does.

MAACK PR discovered through Amarillo residents about the Canadian River Municipal

Water Authority (CRMWA). Some Amarillo residents were confused about the difference

between HPWD and CRMWA. Through further research, MAACK PR found that CRMWA

actually services water all across the Texas Panhandle through the South Plains region, including

the region served by HPWD. The cities serviced by the CRMWA aqueduct include Borger,

Pampa, Amarillo, Plainview, Lubbock, Levelland, Brownfield, Slaton, Tahoka, O’Donnell, and

Lamesa. The confusion generated by Amarillo residents between HPWD and CRMWA stems

from the lack of knowledge regarding of what HPWD actually does. This confusion could be

remedied by HPWD utilizing their media coverage in Amarillo to educate the public. HPWD

focuses on underground water conservation (i.e., focusing most of their efforts on the Ogallala

Aquifer) while CRMWA focuses on distributing water to the cities it services, along with

practicing and engaging in water conservation efforts for above-ground water bodies. HPWD

and CRMWA could work together as a joint force in water conservation.

MAACK PR will utilize the major findings stated above to design a campaign around

increasing awareness among Lubbock residents and Texas Tech students. Texas Tech is the

largest consumer of water in the South Plains, according to a report in 2013 by the Lubbock

Avalanche-Journal, using over 387 million gallons of water in 2013. It is very important for

HPWD to put forth efforts to work with Texas Tech faculty, staff, and students to help bring that

number down. To put that number into perspective, it would take 2,000 years for a family of four

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to use as much water as Texas Tech does in a year (sbunet.com). The need for stronger water

conservation efforts between Tech and HPWD is critical. Along with this partnership, this would

help increase HPWD’s awareness throughout Lubbock as well.

Appropriate target publics

According to the data MAACK collected we decided to focus our campaign efforts

around the residents of Lubbock and the faculty, staff and students at Texas Tech.

We have chosen the Lubbock public because, when comparing it to the data received

from Amarillo residents, it was apparent that Lubbock residents were less aware of HPWD and

needed to be specifically targeted to raise awareness. Seventy percent of Lubbock residents were

not aware of HPWD, while 52 percent were not aware in Amarillo. This shows that 18 percent

more were aware in Amarillo, but the majority of Lubbock is still unaware.

The reason we have chosen the Texas Tech community is because they make up a large

portion of Lubbock. Texas Tech students consumes over 387 million gallons of water in one year

according to the Lubbock Avalanche Journal. We believe by educating this particular group it

will help improve water conservation and improve brand awareness for HPWD.

MAACK PR chose not to look at Amarillo because we believed that it will be better to

focus all of our efforts on Lubbock residents and the Texas Tech community. In our findings we

discovered that Lubbock was more unaware than Amarillo and that it was best to dedicate a

campaign towards creating awareness of HPWD in Lubbock.

Recommended communication channels

The channels we are choosing to utilize are television and social media, particularly

Facebook. Fifty-one percent of participants said they use Facebook more than any other social

media outlet listed on the survey, with options such as, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Vine.

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MAACK PR wants to provide effective awareness levels while simultaneously reaching a

large amount of people. HPWD could offer tips on how to conserve water, education about the

Ogallala Aquifer, project their mission statement and clarify what their exact purpose is related

to water to the Lubbock target audience.

By using Facebook, MAACK will be able to bring awareness to HPWD by promoting

social media posts so they reach individuals who are not following HPWD on social media.

HPWD could also utilize their Facebook page by sharing interesting articles about how to

conserve water and information about their water district in particular. HPWD could also share

posts when local media cover them. HPWD could get their audience to engage in statuses they

post by asking trivia questions and providing incentives.

Recommended Messages and Themes

HPWD will use positive messages that create incentives to conserve water, including

facts about the drought within the areas of HPWD and how the Ogallala Aquifer is being

depleted at a rapid rate. Through this campaign, HPWD will be able to clarify their role as a

water conservation organization unlike CRMWA, who controls the servicing of water.

Recommended Strategies and Tactics

MAACK PR plans to increase awareness in Lubbock and among the Texas Tech

community by 10 percent by the end of May 2015.

MAACK will do this by spreading awareness about the organization and increasing the

positive perception of HPWD using the appropriate media channels.

Limitations

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Implementing our research findings will allow for HPWD to increase awareness in Lubbock,

Texas and the surrounding communities while improving people’s perceptions of HPWD. By

analyzing, identifying and addressing the views, attitudes and behaviors of Lubbock residents,

Amarillo residents, and the Texas Tech community, HPWD will be able to see where they stand

when it comes to their overall awareness among the South Plains. If conditions were ideal,

MAACK PR’s research would have included more Amarillo residents and would have included

smaller populations around the South Plains, such as Levelland, Texas, Slaton, Texas, Plainview,

Texas and Muleshoe, Texas. Due to time constraints, MAACK PR focused our primary research

where the majority of the target publics reside: Amarillo, Texas and Lubbock, Texas, including

Texas Tech University. In the future, MAACK PR may consider expanding its campaign plan to

include the various other populaces mentioned above.

With this approach in mind, MAACK PR will create a campaign Well Water, Well Being

campaign to increase awareness levels of HPWD amongst target populations.

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1. Poole, S. (2014, June 21). City's top water user working to conserve resource and money.

Retrieved from http://lubbockonline.com/local-news/2014-06-21/citys-top-water-users-

working-conserve-resource-and-money#.VE7PEovF9L

2. Canadian River Municipal Water Authority. Web. <http://www.crmwa.com/>.

3. "Frequently Asked Questions." Sturgeon Bay Utilities. Sturgeon Bay Utilites. Web.

4. "Everything You Need to Know about the Texas Drought." State Impact. Web.

<http://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/tag/drought/>.

5. “HPWD to hold hearing on water well regulations.” FOX 34 News.

http://www.myfoxlubbock.com/news/local/story/high-plains-underground-water-

district/zpSFwzvV3EOquRykc5Te0A.cspx

6. "Regional Water Planning Groups." High Plains Water District. Web.

www.hpwd.org/regional-planning-groups

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Executive Summary

Our campaign, Well Water, Well Being, will focus on creating awareness of High Plains

Water District among our target publics, Lubbock residents and the Texas Tech community. We

have chosen these specific target audiences because we believe narrowing our focus to one city

will benefit HPWD by creating an effective campaign for the largest city in their district. Seeing

the effectiveness of the campaign in one city will allow HPWD to expand their campaign to

other cities, making adjustments to the campaign as needed.

The campaign will focus on sharing water conservation tips and teaching individuals how

they can make water conservation a part of their everyday lives. The campaign will also share

the benefits of water conservation to the target publics, Lubbock residents and the Texas Tech

community, to teach these individuals how they can change their water usage habits without

changing themselves and their everyday lives.

HPWD wants to increase awareness of their organization and show target publics,

Lubbock residents and the Texas Tech community, that they are an organization focused on

water conservation.

MAACK PR will accomplish the goal of increasing awareness among Lubbock residents

and the Texas Tech community by increasing HPWD’s activity on social media, along with

increased engagement levels across social media outlets.

MAACK PR created two goals and five strategies to help HPWD increase awareness and

education levels.

In goal one, HPWD will work to increase awareness of their organization. HPWD will

partner with Texas Tech University, Lubbock’s top water user, and create a social media

campaign.

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HPWD will partner with Texas Tech and be a part of the University’s annual Go Green

event. HPWD will work to increase awareness levels of their organization by showing the

importance of conserving water in an innovative way that is appealing to target audiences.

The social media campaign will consist of three social media outlets: Facebook,

Instagram and YouTube. These outlets are the top three primary outlets reported by Lubbock

residents and Texas Tech students in the Qualtrics survey conducted by MAACK PR during

October 2014. Social media posts will pertain to water conservation and water usage tips, as well

as encourage follower interaction.

In goal two, HPWD will focus on spreading water conservation awareness and education.

To achieve this goal, HPWD will partner with the West Texas Home Builders Association at the

Lubbock Parade of Homes, have a weekly news segment on KLBK-TV, a water conservation

pledge, and a weekly event in April at The Science Spectrum in Lubbock.

HPWD will encourage water conservation by passing out yard signs, fridge magnets and

sponges to attendees of the Lubbock Parade of Homes in June.

HWPD will reach Lubbock residents and the Texas Tech community by sharing tips and

conservation efforts on the 5 o’clock KLBK-TV news station. HPWD will also promote the Save

the Ogallala pledge.

HPWD will host WED Wednesday at The Science Spectrum, allowing Lubbock residents

and their children to learn about water conservation and water usage in a fun, interactive way.

All of the following strategies will allow HPWD to reach their goal of bringing

awareness to their organization.

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Introduction

In order to create a successful campaign, MAACK PR has created key messages, themes,

goals, objectives, strategies and tactics to complete this campaign. Our theme we want to

communicate is the importance and benefits of conserving water. The key message is creating

awareness within our target audiences, the Texas Tech community and Lubbock residents, by

sticking closely to our established goals. We have included a timeline in which our goals will be

reached and how we will implement them. By achieving these goals, we hope to increase

awareness and water conservation education for HPWD.

Target Publics

According to the data we collected, MAACK has decided to focus our campaign efforts

around the residents of Lubbock and the Texas Tech community.

The reason we have chosen Lubbock residents is because when comparing Lubbock and

Amarillo residents, MAACK PR’s data suggests that Lubbock residents were less aware of

HPWD, in comparison to awareness levels in Amarillo. Based on these findings, MAACK chose

to specifically target Lubbock residents. According to our research, 70 percent of Lubbock

residents were not aware of HPWD. It is also important to add that since Lubbock is the “Hub”

city, people traveling from places, such as Amarillo, will likely be able to see the campaign

efforts implemented by MAACK and HPWD. By focusing our efforts in Lubbock, we can ensure

a successful campaign.

The reason we have chosen the Texas Tech community as another target public is

because the Texas Tech community makes up a large portion of Lubbock and is an important

public to focus on. According to Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Texas Tech houses three percent

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of Lubbock’s population. Texas Tech consumed 387 million gallons of water in 2013, according

to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. We believe educating this target population could increase

water conservation efforts and create awareness of HPWD.

Campaign Plan

Theme:

While analyzing research findings, HPWD found that a large amount of individuals in

Lubbock are unaware of HPWD and what the organization does. The overall theme HPWD

wants to communicate to target audiences, is the importance of water conservation, strategies on

how to conserve water, and the benefits of conserving water. The main idea to be communicated

is to implement water conservation into everyday life without changing routine behaviors.

The name Well Water, Well Being, comes from the benefits of owning a water well, as

well as to bring awareness to the conservation of the Ogallala Aquifer and to bring to light

HPWD’s mission of conserving the Ogallala and securing a water future for the South Plains.

Well water is generally inexpensive to set up and maintain. It does not cost a monthly fee to use,

is not treated with harsh chemicals, cuts down on pollution due to small scale filtration instead of

the large scale filtration a municipal city water treatment uses, and depending on where the well

is drilled, tastes better too (livestrong.com); this all contributes to the well being of people. Due

to the fact that wells in the South Plains are drilled into the Ogallala Aquifer, the campaign name

Well Water, Well Being, also aims to bring awareness to HPWD’s mission of conserving water

and ultimately reducing the rapid depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer.

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Key and Supporting Messages:

The Well Water, Well Being campaign includes key and supporting messages for each of

the target audiences: the Texas Tech community and Lubbock residents. Each message will

communicate what MAACK PR wants target publics to know about HPWD. Messages will

communicate what HPWD does in the community and educate the Texas Tech community and

Lubbock residents on how to conserve water.

In order to create awareness about HPWD and water conservation, the message to the

Texas Tech community would be that Texas Tech University is the top water consumer in

Lubbock in 2013.

Texas Tech used 387 million gallons of water in 2013.

HPWD is willing to talk to the Tech community about water conservation and the

organization’s potential presence in the community.

HPWD wants to create awareness of the organization and obtain a positive, accurate

image in the community.

HPWD does not control water prices.

HPWD is not connected to Lubbock Power & Light.

Goal, Objectives, Strategies & Tactics- plus evaluation and stewardship

Goal 1

To increase levels of HPWD’s awareness.

Objectives

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1. To increase HPWD’s awareness in Lubbock by 10 percent among the Texas Tech

community and Lubbock residents within six months.

2. To increase HPWD’s social media presence and engagement among Lubbock by seven

percent within two months. By increasing followers, HPWD can further engage, educate,

and inform people about HPWD and water conservation. When HPWD’s followers

engage in conversation with the organization online, it connects other social media users,

potentially increasing interaction on their page/account.

a. Twenty-three to 32 more likes on Facebook.

b. Seventeen to 24 more followers on Twitter.

Strategy 1

Increase awareness of HPWD to the Texas Tech community. HPWD can position itself

as an organization concerned about water conservation by partnering with Texas Tech and the

Science Spectrum. Our research showed that Texas Tech University is the largest water user in

Lubbock, according to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Therefore, we believe it is important to

call on Texas Tech to get involved as an ambassador of HPWD. We believe that partnering with

the Science Spectrum will allow the children of Lubbock residents to see the science behind

conserving water in a way that is entertaining, educational and beneficial for both children and

parents.

Tactics

1. Go Green x HPWD at Texas Tech

This will be an initiative by Texas Tech University Student Housing to promote

awareness levels of HPWD. In our research, MAACK PR found that Texas Tech uses

over 387 gallons of water a year across campus, as reported in 2013. This number

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makes the University the top consumer of water in Lubbock according to the

Lubbock-Avalanche Journal. By adding HPWD into Texas Tech’s annual Go Green

campaign, Texas Tech can help the Texas Tech community more aware of how they

can conserve water on campus and what HPWD does for the community. MAACK

PR found that 72 percent of individuals ages 17-19 were unaware of HPWD, and 70

percent of individuals 20-27 were unaware. Go Green x HPWD at Texas Tech will be

tailored to the Texas Tech community who are unaware of HPWD. Using incentives,

HPWD hopes to raise awareness levels of their organization to individuals who are

unaware of what the organization does for the community. Partnering with Go Green

will increase awareness levels of HPWD to students, faculty and the Lubbock

community.

Go Green is a philanthropic event held every year beginning on April 6 by Texas Tech

University Student Housing to promote saving the environment through conservation of

resources. HPWD will partner with University Student Housing for the event to help

spread their message of water conservation to the students and faculty of Texas Tech,

while raising awareness of the organization.

Custom-made t-shirts and stickers printed with the campaign name, Well Water, Well

Being, and HPWD logo, will be distributed to attendees during the duration of the event.

Doing this will spread awareness for the event and HPWD.

A raffle will be conducted with all proceeds going to conservation awareness efforts.

Prizes will consist of gift cards to Starbucks and a grand prize of an Xbox One video

game system.

o Tickets will be $10 for attendees

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2. Stewardship. By implementing this strategy into the campaign plan, HPWD increases the

opportunity of establishing future relationships with Texas Tech. Go Green x HPWD will

increase awareness of HPWD among the Texas Tech community. Incentives given to the

Texas Tech community members will create a positive relationship between the Tech

community and the organization.

2. Evaluation. Go Green x HPWD event at Texas Tech will be monitored six months after

the event. MAACK feels like this gives HPWD enough time to see if the campaign plan

is working effectively. This will evaluate if the Texas Tech community is more aware of

HPWD than they were when MAACK PR surveyed them in October 2014. An adapted

version of the original survey will be used to evaluate the awareness levels of Lubbock

residents and Texas Tech community.

Strategy 2

MAACK will create an online presence for HPWD using a campaign. MAACK PR

surveyed individuals and asked how frequently they use certain types of media. Of respondents,

51 percent said they used Facebook as their primary social media outlet. The top three social

media outlets used by individuals surveyed by MAACK in October 2014 were Facebook,

Instagram and YouTube. Facebook, Instagram and YouTube will be the three social media

outlets used in our campaign since they were ranked the highest on usage from individuals in our

questionnaire.

Using social media to promote HPWD will help reach our target audience in a way that is

appealing to them. HPWD can further engage, educate, and inform the Texas Tech community

and Lubbock residents, about HPWD and water conservation. When HPWD engages in

conversation with current followers, it influences other social media users to follow the

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organization’s social media accounts. By creating a larger following for HPWD’s social media

account, it will help them spread awareness of their organization.

Tactics

1. Instagram Contest

The contest will run from March 29, 2015, to April 6, 2015, and will encourage

participants to create innovative and unique ways of conserving water. Participants

will create a video, 15 seconds or less, using an Instagram video clip, or an Instagram

picture (regular picture or collage).

o Entries must have a caption containing the hashtags #WellWaterWellBeing

and #HPWD.

o Winners will be chosen and announced on April 8 by Adeline Fox. The first

place winner will receive a $100 gift card to Amazon.com, second and third

place winners will receive a $50 gift card to Pure Water Ice and Tea

Company.

o HPWD will ask Amazon.com and Pure Water Ice and Tea Company for gift

card donations.

2. Facebook Page

Post water conservation tips

o Ask interactive questions that allow for audience responses.

Use incentives such as giveaways to encourage Lubbock residents and the Texas

Tech community to like the HPWD Facebook page by promoting it with pictures on

the HPWD Facebook.

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o One Facebook account, drawn at random, will win a $50 Visa gift card. The

winner will be selected and announced on April 1st, 2015 by Adeline Fox.

3. YouTube Page

Post videos about water conservation tips

o Make videos with quick water conservation tips demonstrating ways to

conserve water. These videos will be produced and written by MAACK PR.

o Kliff Kingsbury will be our spokesman for the YouTube video “Kliff

Kingsbury Conserves Water Too.”

Interview Lubbock residents and the Texas Tech community on ways that they

conserve water.

o Interview around the Lubbock area to see how Texas Tech community and

residents are conserving in innovative ways

o Reach out to Kliff Kingsbury to ask him to be featured in a video supporting

HPWD.

Informational videos on what HPWD does

o Behind the scenes look at the average day at the HPWD headquarters, so that

Lubbock residents and the Tech community can better understand what they

are committed to doing at the organization.

Instagram Account

o Post pictures and videos with tips on how to conserve water, educational video

clips, and fun facts about water in West Texas.

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All posts must have the hashtag #HPWD in the caption and posts related

to the Well Water, Well Being campaign will have the hashtag

#WellWaterWellBeing in the caption.

Stewardship. In order for the social media campaign to be effective, it is important that

HPWD updates all social media accounts regularly. It is important that HPWD creates

unique and interesting content that is appealing to target audiences, Lubbock residences

and the Texas Tech community. Maintaining a relationship with followers on social

media is important because it creates more opportunities to engage with each audience.

Evaluation. HPWD will analyze the effectiveness of the social media campaign by

looking at Google Analytics to see which social media accounts are gaining the most

amount of followers and what type of posts are reaching a greater amount of people.

Goal 2

To increase education about water conservation and encourage water conservation efforts

among the residents of Lubbock and Texas Tech University.

Objectives

o 1. To increase education about water conservation among Lubbock residents and Texas

Tech community by 10 percent within six months.

Strategy 1

Increase water conservation efforts while promoting the presence of HPWD to Lubbock

residents by working with the West Texas Home Builders Association and new home builders.

In our focus group comprised of Lubbock residents, one resident suggested that HPWD work

with the West Texas Home Builders Association to reach a different audience. Jessica, from

Lubbock, said, “West Texas Home Builders Association they do the Parade of Homes and home

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builders shows and things like that. It would be the perfect place to go ahead and ask

homebuilders, like, can we put a cute little sign that says how to conserve water?” HWPD will

create promotional items that homeowners can place inside and outside of their homes as a

constant reminder to save water. Items will be distributed at the Lubbock Parade of Homes in

June 2015.

Tactics

1. Yard Signs. HPWD will encourage homeowners to place signs that are similar to that of

home alarm system signs in their front yards.

Signs will have the slogan of our campaign, “Well Water, Well Being.”

Signs will have a catchy phrase “Water you doing? Don’t waste water.”

2. Fridge Magnets. HPWD will encourage homeowners to place magnets on their fridge as

a reminder to save water.

Magnets will have the slogan of our campaign, “Well Water, Well Being.”

Magnets will have the phrase “The water is running out, don’t put yourself in a position

to pout.”

3. Custom Sponges. HPWD will distribute sponges to all attendees of the Lubbock Parade

of Homes as a constant reminder to save water while cleaning.

Sponges will be the colors of HPWD, light blue and dark blue.

Sponges will be labeled on both sides:

o One side will be printed with the HPWD logo and our campaign slogan, Well

Water, Well Being

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o The opposite side of sponges will say “Having no water would stink. If you aren’t

using the water, turn off your sink.”

4. Stewardship. It is important for HPWD to have a presence at the Lubbock Parade of

Homes and to connect with homebuilders as well as homeowners. Doing so will allow HPWD to

personally reach Lubbock residents and help increase the awareness of HPWD.

5. Evaluation. HPWD will measure the effectiveness of promotional items by obtaining

measurable data of awareness levels among individuals who attended the Lubbock Parade of

Homes, and awareness levels of individuals who did not attend. HPWD will make an Excel

spreadsheet of all residents who attended the Lubbock Parade of Homes and who received

promotional items.

Strategy 2

HPWD will educate Lubbock residents about water conservation by appearing on local

news channels and encouraging residents to join the Save the Ogallala Pledge. In our focus

group of Lubbock residents, Justin, said, “The 5 o’clock they are just begging for people to come

in and talk to them about things.” He continued, “They would more than likely do it for free.”

HPWD appearing on the 5 o’clock news would be a potentially cheap way for the organization to

raise awareness of the district while also reaching a large target audience; Lubbock residents.

Tactics

1. Water Conservation Tips. HPWD will do a segment on the KLBK-TV 5 o’clock news

about water conservation and current statistics.

Water conservation tips will be attainable to what is happening in the current weather

forecast.

o Change tips as seasons change

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o Highlight different objectives to conserve water that can be done in different

seasons

Summer- Turn off sprinklers

Spring- Save rain water

Fall- Educate your household with helpful water saving tips

Take quick showers

Turn the water off when you brush your teeth

Do not let the water run when doing dishes

Winter- Check for leaks so that runoff water can be saved instead of

leaking into your home.

o Adeline Fox will also make an appearance on the Trends and Friends

television program at 5 p.m. on KLBK-TV in order to educate the public on

what HPWD does, along with water conservation tips.

Save the Ogallala Pledge. With the Ogallala Aquifer depleting at a rapid rate, it is up

to the community to unite and reduce their water usage in order to help prevent the

Ogallala from drying up. The Save the Ogallala Pledge will give community

members an opportunity to commit to saving water, while urging others to do the

same. The pledge will be on a landing page on HPWD’s website. After virtually

signing the pledge, participants will have the opportunity to share that they took the

pledge on their personal social media accounts, along with a link, encouraging their

peers to do the same.

1. After signing the pledge, a printable page will appear with tips on how to stay

committed to the pledge.

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2. Stewardship. It is important for HPWD to have a strong and positive presence within the

Lubbock community. It is HPWD’s responsibility to share their knowledge on water

conservation in the Lubbock area and address Lubbock’s water concerns. Doing so will

allow HPWD to reach Lubbock residents, and the population will have a positive perception

of HPWD. The organization will have the ability to change their image from one who

controls water prices, according to Adeline Fox, to one who helps target audiences save

water and lower their water bill.

3. Evaluation. HPWD will evaluate the effectiveness of the 5 o’clock segments by encouraging

viewers to go to their Facebook pages and write reviews about the segments. KLBK-TV news

station will remind viewers to review the segments at the end of the newscast as well.

Strategy 3

HPWD will increase water conservation education efforts to Lubbock residents by

hosting an event at The Science Spectrum. Hosting the event, WED Wednesday, will allow

HPWD to educate families about water conservation. By making WED Wednesday a child

friendly event, families can work together to make educational water conservation decisions.

Habits start at a young age. By targeting Lubbock residents and their children, HPWD will teach

children good water conservation habits that they can use their whole lives.

While conducting research, MAACK PR found that 70 percent of Lubbock residents

were unaware of HPWD. Hosting an event at The Science Spectrum will allow Lubbock

residents to gain knowledge of HPWD while being in a kid-friendly atmosphere. This will allow

the children of Lubbock residents to become aware of the organization and water conservation as

well.

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Tactics

1. WED Wednesday

The education Day at The Science Spectrum, is an interactive all-day event that gives

children a chance to learn at an early age about water conservation, while providing

their parents tips on how to conserve water and what well permitting is. WED

Wednesday will be on every Wednesday in the month of April. This will allow the

children of Lubbock residents to become aware of the organization and water

conservation as well.

Five to 10 interactive booths will be set up at the Science Spectrum for children and

adults. The booths will provide visual aids showing how water conservation works,

booths will inform Lubbock residents and children about the importance of the

Ogallala Aquifer.

A seminar will be held to inform parents about how to properly conserve water at the

beginning, middle and of each WED Wednesday for a duration of about 30 minutes.

This will take place while children are interacting with the booths. Volunteers will be

at the booths with the children.

Free candy, refreshments and mini bubble bottles will be available for the

participants.

2. Stewardship. When HPWD hosts events at The Science Spectrum, the Lubbock residents

and their children will be actively engaging in activities they can take home and share with

their family. This will increase the opportunity of using word-of-mouth to spread

awareness of HPWD. The event will give children and their families something to look

forward to every week for the month of April. The activities that kids will participate in

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will motivate them to keep coming back, which will form a relationship between

individuals. This relationship is important to maintain because it could attract more

individuals to come to WED Wednesday.

3. Evaluation. HPWD will be able to see how successful WED Wednesday was by keeping

track of how many individuals came to the event.

Implementation Timeline and Budget

Timeline

March 25: Appearance on Trends and Friends at KLBK-TV

March 29: Beginning of social media campaign and Instagram contest

March 29: Start boosts for the HPWD Facebook page

April 1: WED Wednesday at The Science Spectrum every Wednesday for the month of April

April 8, 15, 22, and 29

April 1: Facebook account winner will be announced

April 6: Beginning of Go Green x HPWD at Texas Tech

April 6: Instagram contest ends

April 29: Social media campaign for Facebook boost ends

April 30: End of Go Green x HPWD at Texas Tech

May 1: Release YouTube clip featuring Kliff Kingsbury

May 7, 14, 21: Recurring YouTube clips including, Kliff Kingsbury clip and informative short

videos.

June 13: Advertise and distribute incentives at Lubbock Parade of Homes

Budget Overview

Goal One

Go Green x HPWD $4,254.50 T-shirts (150) $3,442.50

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Stickers $100

Candy $40

Ticket roll (2 rolls) $22

Prizes (Starbucks gift cards, Xbox)

o Xbox One $400

o Starbucks gift cards (5 x $50) $250

Social Media Campaign $687.40 Boosts for posts (3 posts a week for one month at $5.40) $437.40

Gift cards (Visa, Amazon.com, Pure Ice Water and Tea Company)

$250

Goal Two

Lubbock Parade of Homes $890.00 Yard Signs $300

Fridge Magnets $210

Sponges $380

WED Wednesday at The Science Spectrum For five Wednesdays in April $523.50

Food and Drinks $349.80

Bottles of Mini Bubbles $124.75

Candy $48.95

TOTAL $6,355.40 In-depth Budget. With the potential budget $6,355.40, MAACK PR has gathered an

itemized budget for each tactic. HPWD can choose what option best fits their campaign

needs.

Additional fees to offset cost Admission fee to Go Green x HPWD ( Admission =$10 X approximately 500 attendees)

$5,000.00

10% of proceeds fee go to HPWD (10% X $5,000.00 approximate

income)

$500.00

Goal One Go Green x HPWD. Total cost of Go Green x HPWD will depend on what Texas Tech

University Student Housing chooses.

T-shirts. From Texas Tech Federal Credit Union. Donated. 150 t-shirts at $22.95 from

California T’s at $3,442.50.

Stickers. Custom made stickers from Zazzle.com. Twenty-three inch stickers at $5.00 per

six sheet. Total-$100

Candy. From Walmart. Four three pound packages of Willy Wonka Mix Ups candy at

$9.79.

Ticket roll. From Staples.com. Each roll will be $9.99. Need two for the raffle. $22

Prizes (Starbucks gift cards, Xbox). From Starbucks. Two gift cards at $50 each. One

Xbox at $400.

Social Media Campaign.

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Boosts for posts. From Facebook.com. A five dollar lifetime budget for ads will stay at this rate,

regardless of the ad views. It will be five dollars a day per post. With tax, .40 cents. Total at

$5.40.

Instagram posts. From Pure Ice Water and Tea Company. Second and third place winners

receive $50 gift cards. First place winner receives $100 gift card to Home Depot.

Goal Two Lubbock Parade of Homes. Total cost of items to be present at Lubbock Parade of Homes will

depend on what is best for HPWD.

Yard signs. From Yardsignwholesale.com. Two color package 18 at $300. A hundred

12’x 18’signs. Free shipping and free stakes.

Magnets. From Magnets.com. $0.78 x 150 (2.25in) custom circle magnets at $195, plus

shipping and handling at $15. Total at $210.00.

Sponges. From Branders.com. 300 water drop cellulose sponges x $1.10 at $330, plus the

set-up fee at $50. $0.00 for shipping and handling. Total at $380.00.

WED Wednesday at The Science Spectrum. Total cost of Wed Wednesday at The Science

Spectrum will depend on what HPWD chooses. If all options are chosen, the total cost could be:

Food and drinks. These items will be from Walmart. Four cases of water at $6.90. Total

at $27.96. Four packages of Frito Lay chip packs at $10.80. Total at $43.20. For five

Wednesdays in April, total is $349.80.

Bottles of Bubbles. Mini bubbles from Party City in Lubbock, Texas with five, 12 pack

bubbles at $4.99. Total at $124.75.

Candy. From Walmart. Four three pound packages of Willy Wonka Mix Ups candy at

$9.79.

Additional fees to offset cost. 10% of admission fees to Go Green will go to HPWD at $500.00.

Estimated attendance to Go Green will be 500 participants. Total at $5,000.00.

Contacts:

Science Spectrum 2579 S Loop 289 #250

Lubbock, TX 79423

806- 745-2525

Home Builders Association 3410 74th St.

Lubbock, TX 79423

806-799-2631

Texas Tech University Student Housing 3205 18th St.

Lubbock, Texas 79401

806-742-2661

Texas Tech Federal Credit Union 1802 Texas Tech Pkwy

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Lubbock, Texas 79409

806-742-3606

Zazzle.com 408-983-2800

KLBK-News Director, Russ Poteet 7403 University Avenue

Lubbock, TX 79423

806-745-2345

Branders.com- Florida 9320 NW 13th Street, #11

Miami, FL 33172

1-877-272-6337

Yardsignwholesale.com - Florida 1813 E. Colonial

Orlando, FL 32803

1-407-894-0090

Facebook.com Help Team

California T’s 1611 University Ave.

Lubbock, TX 79401

806-763-1071

Amazon.com

Conclusion

HPWD has a low level of awareness among Lubbock residents and the Texas Tech

community. After conducting primary research with these target populations, results suggest 70

percent of the Lubbock respondents are unaware of HPWD. Texas Tech University uses the most

amount of water in Lubbock.

These research findings indicate that it is crucial that the Texas Tech community and

Lubbock residents learn how to conserve water. HPWD will host campus events, as well as team

57

up with groups on campus to show the Texas Tech community how they can conserve water,

what the benefits of saving water are, and why it is important. Partnering up with the university

will help increase the universities awareness as a whole. HPWD will host appealing events to the

Lubbock community by partnering with well known businesses in the Lubbock community such

as The Science Spectrum, the Lubbock Parade of Homes and Texas Tech.

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1. 2015 Lubbock Parade of Homes. Web.

<http://www.lubbockparadeofhomes.com/wthba/>.

2. Sustainability @ University Student Housing. Texas Tech University. Web.

<http://housing.ttu.edu/gogreen/>.

3. "Texas Tech University." College Factual. Web.

<http://www.collegefactual.com/colleges/texas-tech-university/academic-life/faculty-

composition/#>.

4. Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: City's top water users working to conserve resource and

money

http://lubbockonline.com/local-news/2014-06-21/citys-top-water-users-working-

conserve-resource-and-money#.VGP36ajnaUk

5. “What Are the Benefits of Well Water?” Livestrong. Web.

http://www.livestrong.com/article/121718-benefits-well-water/

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60

Instagram Contest

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YouTube Script

Kliff Kingsbury: (In the shower. You can see his chest. Looks at

the camera and turns off water) “Oh hello, I did not see you

there. How embarrassing. I am Kliff Kingsbury. Many people ask

me how I get my luscious locks. My secret is I lather, rinse,

but I DO NOT repeat,” (Shh’s the camera). “I keep my showers

short to conserve water.” (Winks at camera) “I also turn off the

faucet when brushing my teeth.” (Shows his white, sparkling

teeth) (Cuts to his yard) “Instead of over using the sprinkler

system, I use the tears from the other teams to water my lawn.”

(Yard looks really long and green) “Looks like it is time to mow

again. Haha.” (Sarcastically chuckles) “Do your part, save

water.”

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Yard Sign

Custom Sponges

Fridge Magnets

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Save the Ogallala Pledge

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WED Wednesday Flyer

65

n

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Appendix A

Survey for High Plains Water District

We are Texas Tech students creating a public relations campaign for High Plains Underground

Water Conservation District No. We appreciate your time completing this survey. If you have

any questions, contact our instructor at matthew.vandyke@ttu.edu.

1. How frequently do you use the following types of media? (Check one box per medium).

2. Which of these media platforms do you use to stay informed or learn about water/drought

issues? (Check all that apply).

_____Television

_____Internet

_____Mobile phones

_____Tablets

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_____Newspapers

_____Magazines

_____Direct mail

_____Social media

_____Other: _______________________________________________

3. If you use social media, what platforms do you use? (Rank from social media used the most

(1) to least used (9). If you do not use one of the listed platforms listed below, please put N/A)

_____Facebook

_____Twitter

_____Instagram

_____Vine

_____Pinterest

_____Snapchat

_____YouTube

_____Blogs

_____Other: _______________________________________________

4. What are your primary reasons for using the following social media platforms?

Facebook _______________________________________

Twitter _______________________________________

Instagram_______________________________________

Vine _______________________________________

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Pinterest _______________________________________

Snapchat _______________________________________

YouTube _______________________________________

Blogs _______________________________________

Other (___________): _______________________________________________

5. In what ways do you normally use water on a daily basis?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________

6. Are you aware of water/drought risks in your community? (Please circle a number).

Not Very Aware 1 2 3 4 5 Very Aware

7. How concerned about water conservation are you? (Please circle a number).

Not Very Concerned 1 2 3 4 5 Very Concerned

8. Are you interested in learning more about how to conserve water?

a. Yes

b. No

9. Is the source of your household water shared among other communities?

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a. Yes

b. No

c. I don’t know

10. What is the Ogallala Aquifer?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

________

11. What is the purpose of a well permit?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

________

12. Are you aware of where your wastewater goes?

a. Yes

b. No

c. I don’t know

13. Is your community currently in a drought?

a. Yes

b. No

c. I don’t know

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14. Does information regarding drought in your community affect your water usage habits?

a. Yes

b. No

15. Have you heard of the High Plains Water District (HPWD)?

a. Yes

b. No

16. How did you hear about High Plains Water District?

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

________

17. What is your perception of HPWD? (Please circle a number).

Negative -2 -1 0 1 2 Positive

18. Do you follow HPWD on your various media platforms? (Check all that apply).

_____Blog

_____Twitter

_____Facebook

_____Newsletter

_____YouTube Channel

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19. HPWD offers water conservation tools, devices, and educational materials (e.g., rain

collection buckets; high-efficiency plumbing fixtures). Would you consider using any of these

tools, devices or services? (Please circle a number).

Not at all 1 2 3 4 5 Certainly

20. What is your age? _______ years old

21. Where do you live? (Circle one)

Lubbock

Amarillo

Other:______________

22. What is your gender? (Circle one) Male Female

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Appendix B

MAACK PR - Focus Group Protocol

Location: Media & Communication Research Center, Basement of the Media &

Communications Building

Time and Location: TBA

Number of Participants: 10

Pre-Focus Group:

Participants will be allowed to socialize and obtain provided food and drinks, if they so

desire.

Welcome:

Courtney, our moderator, will gather the participants together and begin conducting the

focus group.

Introduction:

Our moderator will introduce herself, along with the assistant moderators.

Our moderator or assistant moderator will then hand information sheets guaranteeing

participant confidentiality.

Purpose of the focus group:

Our moderator will introduce and discuss the purpose of this focus group, which is to

generate qualitative data on awareness levels of High Plains Water District among the

chosen target publics.

Ground rules:

Our moderator will discuss the ground rules for the focus group.

o Confidentiality clause

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“All topics and responses discussed in this focus group will remain

confidential and will be used only for research and data analysis purposes

for our class project.”

o Participation

“Participation is voluntary and you hold the right to discontinue

participation at any time.”

“You also have the right to not answer and questions you don’t feel

comfortable answering.”

“The focus group will last no longer than one hour.”

o Tape recording

“This focus group will be recorded via voice recorder because we don’t

want to miss any of your comments. Is this ok with everyone? The

recordings will be kept confidential and will be transcribed for data

analysis purposes.”

o Note taking

“Along with recording this focus group with a voice recorder, notes will

be taken as well to insure accuracy.”

Transition: Ok, let’s get started. [Turn on tape recorder]. First, let’s go around the room and

everyone tell me your first name and age please.

[After everyone introduces themselves].. It’s nice to meet everyone. Now let’s talk about your

media use habits.

Questions:

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What types of media platforms do you use most frequently? (Examples: television,

internet, mobile phones, tablets, newspapers, etc.).

o Why do you use these platforms?

If you use social media, what platforms do you use?

o Why?

Transition: Great, now that we’ve discussed your media preferences, let’s talk about water use

behaviors.

In what ways do you normally use water on a daily basis?

o How much water do you use?

o How much water does your family use?

o Do you think you use more than the average amount of water? (The average

American family uses 400 gallons of water per day).

Do you care about conserving water?

o If not, why do you not care about conserving water?

o If yes, what is the motivation behind you caring to conserve water?

o What would motivate you to conserve water?

o What would motivate you to educate others to conserve water?

Do you try to stay informed or learn about water/drought issues?

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o Why?

o How?

What is the Ogallala Aquifer?

o How does it impact your community?

Transition: Thank you. Now I want to ask some questions regarding High Plains Water District.

Are you aware of High Plains Water District?

o What do they do?

o How did you hear about them?

What are your personal attitudes toward HPWD?

o Why?

Do you think people are aware of HPWD?

Why would people have a negative perception of HPWD?

Why would people have a positive perception of HPWD?

What do you think HPWD can do to bring more awareness to themselves?

What do you think is the best way to reach residents in your community and educate

them about HPWD?

If you are on social media, are you aware that HPWD is on social media?

o If yes, what do you think of their social media presence?

o If no, would you consider liking their Facebook page or following them on

Twitter?

If no, why would you not follow their Twitter or like their Facebook page?

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[Tell participants that focus group has been conducted on behalf of a class project for High

Plains Water District. Tell them about the organization and what it does]. Thank you so much

for taking the time out of your day to help us with our campaigns project. We appreciate your

answers and they will be used to help us complete our campaign for HPWD.

Appendix C

Focus Group

STUDENTS

Courtney: We are going to go ahead and start if that is okay with everyone. The purpose of this

focus group is to receive qualitative data and awareness of the High Plains Water District among

the chosen publics- ya’ll being Texas Tech students. So if y’all can just look over your

information sheet I am going to go over a couple things with y’all, the first being the

confidentiality clause. All topics and responses discussed in the focus group will remain

confidential and will only be used for research and data purposes for our class project.

Participation is voluntary and you will have the right to discontinue participation at any time.

You also have the right to not answer any questions you do not feel comfortable answering. The

focus group won’t last longer than an hour. The last one took 20 minutes so it will probably be a

lot shorter than that.

Focus group will be recorded via voice recorder because we do not want to miss any of your

comments. Is that okay with everyone? (Everyone shakes head yes or says yes) Recordings will

be confidential and will be transcribed for data purposes and then destroyed. As long as

recording with voice recorder, notes will be taken for accuracy.

Okay lets get started. First lets go around the room and tell everyone your name and

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age please. I’m Courtney and I’m 22.

Mary: I’m Mary, I’m 22.

Bryon: Bryon, I’m 21.

Jacob: I’m Jacob, I’m 21.

Zack: I’m Zack, I’m 21.

Ashleigh: I’m Ashley, I’m 22.

Melissa: Melissa, I’m 22.

Katelyn: I’m Katelyn and I’m only 20.

Katie: I’m Katie and I’m 21.

Juan: I’m Juan. I’m 23.

Courtney: Okay, thank ya’ll it is very nice to meet everyone. First we are going to talk about

your media use habits. So we are going to start with Bryon and then we will go around the table.

What types of media platforms do you use most frequently examples being internet mobile

phones tablets and etc. and why do you use these platforms?

Bryon: Um, I use my phone because it is easy to use and always in my pocket.

Bryan: Pretty much just Instagram because I like that its something instead of just people saying

stuff. Because I don’t really like to hear what people like to say a lot. Like Twitter is annoying to

me because there’s no filter. But you have to actually see something to take a picture of it and

post it on Instagram. I can’t imagine I use 100, I use water when I brush my teeth and take a

shower. I shower twice a day but I can’t see how that could be 100 gallons.

Jacob: I use the Internet obviously. I use my phone to get newspaper outlets. I guess TV yeah

sometimes but that’s about it. I use Instagram mostly, Tumblr for blogging and news, Facebook

to talk to my European friends. But twitters not really my thing.

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Zack: I use TV mostly for Sports center. I use my phone because it’s easy to get your

information from there and then Internet to get information from there as well. Yeah, so heavy

Twitter user. Facebook to keep up with people I met study abroad and family. A little bit of

Tumblr and a little bit of wordpress.

Ashleigh: I use the phone and my computer a lot because it’s most convenient for me, its always

with me. I use Instagram, because I’m more of a visual learner.

Melissa: Phone and computer as well. I use Instagram also mainly for friends. And a lot of my

family looks at my stuff on Facebook so ill post stuff on there so that they can see it.

Stephanie: So I actually watch the news in the morning whenever I get dressed just to have it on

and to know if anyone’s dying or the weather mostly. I also use the computer a lot since I’m in

this building often. I use Twitter for my newsfeed then ill use Facebook to connect with people

that aren’t in Lubbock. I use Tumblr if it’s for a class but I wouldn’t really do it in my free time.

Katie: I watch the news, but mostly my phone for social media since everything’s on there and I

can get the news. My main one is Instagram for the pictures; I think pictures can say a thousand

words as cliché as that sounds. And then Facebook to keep in contact with your family or

something.

Juan: Pretty much phone, television and Internet. I’m mainly on my phone, its portable.

I use twitter to rant. But as for Facebook, I basically only keep mine because I’m in

cancer remission to keep in touch with everybody else.

Bryan: I cannot imagine I use 100 I usually use water when I brush my teeth, I shower 2 times a

day but I cannot imagine how that would be 100 gallons.

Jacob: Basically the same as him I mean I use my purifier on my sink for drinking water but I

could not imagine using 100 gallons either.

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Zack: Purifier for the sink shower and brushing teeth but if I ever really have to drink water I

will use a buy a bottled one I don’t really use tap water that much.

Ashleigh: Well I don’t really know how many gallons are in a shower when you take a shower

but I mean I like to take baths everyday so I use a lot of water probably more than average

honestly.

Melissa: I don’t think I use 100 gallons either a day drinking water I have a filter and just

necessities.

Katelyn: I use it to shower, brush my teeth, if you want to consider using the restroom a use of

water I do that too, it’s kind of normal, I actually drink tap water so I have a little bit more than

that I fill everyday and then I use that water.

Katie: I do the same as her and drinking water I drink tap water so if I need to refill then I drink

those tervis cups those big ones so I will refill that 5 or 6 times a day so many right as average

right or right as below.

Juan: Yes I pretty much shower restroom brush teeth as far as drinking water I do the bottle

thing too.

Courtney: Do you care about conserving water, Yes or No and Why.

Jessica: I should care but I am not sure that I actively do things to like preserve water.

Bryan: I guess I am kind of the same I do not think about it too much but I don’t think I use too

much water anyways the only thing I do care about is bottled water I don’t drink a lot of water

bottles but I do that for the bottles I don’t really care about the water.

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Jacob: I would say I am pretty average as water use goes but the only thing I really try and not

do is keep the water running when brushing my teeth just turn it off.

Katelyn: I like to think that I care about water but um I think I do little things that I could

improve on like I keep the water running and I wait until it is like the perfect temperature instead

of getting in right way.

Zack: yeah I guess just mainly probably happens a few times when I leave it running more than I

should but for the most part if I don’t really need to use it or stepping away from something or of

course brushing your teeth I am just going to turn it off because it’s kind of weird but I mean

hearing the sound of rushing water is kind of irritating if I am not using it.

Ashleigh: I am the completely opposite now that I am thinking about it I am horrible at

conserving water and I just let it run like yeah because I like to get it really hot so I let it run for

10 minutes while I am doing stuff and I kind of forget.

Melissa: Yeah I try to conserve as much as I can because it is how I was taught I guess.

Calin: I conserve too and its also because I am paying for it so whenever I do brush my teeth I

turn it off as well but its more conscious of I am actually paying for it its not my parents paying

for it like its my money and if I am not using it why am I wasting my money on it.

Kahley: I conserve too because I'm paying for it. It's my money, if I'm going to use it, why am I

wasting my money on it.

Katie: When I'm brushing my teeth I don't just leave it running. Or when I'm doing the dishes I

don't leave it running either, if I am scrubbing something, I turn it off and rinse it back out.

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Juan: I spent the last 10 months in the hospital, so over there I didn't care. But now I'm actually

paying for the bill, so I guess I will find out at the end of this month.

Moderator: If you did say that you do conserve water, what is your motivation?

Kahley: It's money. It's all about money. We are broke college students.

Courtney: What would motivate you to educate others to conserve water?

Stephanie: Uh, it is good for everybody.

Bryan: If we had a real problem with not being able to get water I would think about it, but I

have never had that problem.

Jacob: Knowing the percentage of the human population that doesn't have access to water.

Zach: I would want to know, even if water levels aren't low. Where I have been abroad, they

have decent levels, but they are still conservative minded, but it’s not in your face. It is a

reminder. Don't force feed someone because you are not going to break a habit like that.

Courtney: Do you try to stay informed about water or dry issues? Why or why not?

Stephanie: I don't stay informed about water or drought issues to be honest.

Bryan: I don't either.

Jacob: I mean, I don't know. If it comes up on my newsfeed then I will definitely read a story

about it, but I usually don't go looking for it.

Katelyn: At home we were in a drought for a little bit around the Houston area and we weren't

allowed to use our sprinkler system for a long time. That was the only time I was acknowledged

about something.

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Zach: If it is a story that happens to pop up or you over hear it, that's how I would see it. I won't

be like 'oh what level are we at today.

Ashleigh: We would get fined if we used our sprinklers at a certain time of day.

Melissa: When I watch the news here, we always have things like water your grass on whatever

day for however much time, so I pay attention to it then, but I don't actively seek information.

Kahley: I don't really seek it either, but I have heard people in Lubbock who say, 'I haven't

watered my lawn today I have to wait a whole week.' So, I hear complaints about it.

Katie: I work at a winery. We have a thing 'no water, no alcohol', or 'no alcohol, no water', so I

pay attention a little bit more just because if we are short with water, we couldn't serve. So for

work I have to keep up with it.

Juan: I was going to start looking into it, but after last week with all the rain, it's like why

bother.

Juan: For me, just, I was gonna start looking into it but after the rain last week and what not…

Courtney: So, what is the Ogallala Aquifer and how does it impact your community?

Calin: What was the question again?

Courtney: What is the Ogallala Aquifer?

Calin: Are we pop corning or just going around?

Courtney: Pop corning is fine.

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Calin: I know about the Edwards Aquifer and that one’s in Austin because we went there once

on our way to San Marcos, so I’m assuming the Ogallala or whatever is located in the west of

Texas.

Courtney: It goes through the south plains to the very south of Nebraska to the south of

Lubbock and is how we get our water and it is currently drying up so we are going to run out of

water soon and it basically sucks up the rainwater. That’s how it gets water.

Courtney: Okay, so now I’m going to ask some questions regarding the High Plains Water

District. Are you aware of the High Plains Water District and what they do? If so, how did you

hear about them?

Courtney: Anyone?

Calin: I think I did a survey for them through SONA so I’m aware of them but don’t really know

what they do specifically.

Courtney: Okay, if you have any sort of knowledge of them, what are your personal attitudes

and why?

Calin: I’m assuming every county and/or city needs a water district so I bet they’re good but I

don’t know their ethics or their discipline or anything like that.

Courtney: Do you think people are aware of High Plains Water District?

Calin: The people who live here and pay the bills probably do, but not the students.

Courtney: Just from the name “High Plains Water District,” why do you think people would

have a negative perception or a positive perception?

Melissa: Well if you said that thing, the…. what you said…

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Courtney: Ogallala

Melissa: If that thing is drying up, then I’d think that maybe the people there aren’t doing their

job or managing it properly.

Courtney: Generally, just to give y’all some information, they don’t control water rates here in

Lubbock. A lot of people attribute them to doing that so when their water bill is really high, they

blame High Plains Water District. Their job is actually just to teach people how to conserve

water and ways you can use water smarter. They focus a lot of their educational tools on

elementary students and they really haven’t gone beyond that so that’s where we’re trying to

help them.

Courtney: So, what do you think HPWD can do to bring more awareness to themselves?

Jessica: Things like this. I’m aware right now. And I know another thing is I had to take today

was a survey about the water thing so I feel like they’re trying.

Calin: Yeah, just reach a more broad group of people instead of just elementary students. Like

go beyond that.

Zack: Social media. Just advertise on social media and promote on twitter and have those weird

banners on Facebook and stuff like that where you just want to ignore it but it’s right there so

you’re going to look at it and someone’s going to figure it out.

Courtney: Okay, any other suggestions?

Courtney: What do you think is the best way to reach residents of your community and educate

them about High Plains Water District?

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Calin: I bet the Science Spectrum could do something. I mean, I know they’re more geared

towards children but I don’t know, if it’s cause-marketing, you could do that if they’re a for-

profit since the Science Spectrum is nonprofit.

Katelyn: I like how y’all are doing the free pizza stuff so if they did free stuff, everyone would

go to that. Well, not everyone, but a lot of people.

Courtney: Okay, if you’re on social media, are you aware that High Plains Water District is on

social media? If yes, what do you think of their social media presence and if no, would you

consider liking their Facebook page and/or following them.

Jessica: I’ll consider liking their Facebook page or following them

Juan: I didn’t know they were on social media and I’m not gonna.

Jessica: I don’t think they’d be something fun to follow.

Courtney: Thank y’all for y’all’s honesty by the way!

Zack: Yeah just, I don’t know exactly what they would post besides “don’t do this” but like, it’s

kinda surprising they do have a social media influence because it’s next to nothing which is

something that’s apparently a very serious thing and it’s just not a big deal basically as far as

their presence so they should probably step that up and think of something to make it where it’s

not like ‘oh my God we have to hear these people.’

Ashleigh: If they followed me I would. Follow for follow.

Melissa: I would probably do it if it helped y’all so.

Calin: If I was paying my bill I might want to be concerned about what is going on where I live

and I know the demographic for Facebook is mostly older women now rather than us college

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kids so I am sure the majority of their followers are on Facebook but I am sure they could go and

get something with a newscast or anything and team up there

Katie: yeah what you were saying if they found something interesting to post about I mean I

know BuzzFeed is really big now so if they did a BuzzFeed quiz like do you know how much

your water is or something along those lines even for just Lubbock residences or Lubbock

college students then maybe but I don’t know if I would do it other than that.

Juan: I would probably consider it I mean why not it doesn’t cost anything so why not.

Courtney: For those who said no why wouldn’t you follow or like?

Bryan: I don’t really use Facebook so I wouldn’t go out of my way to get on to like something I

don’t really care about.

Katelyn: I would probably just keep scrolling even if I did follow them I don’t know if I need

that information that sounds awful.

Appendix D

FOCUS GROUP

RESIDENTS

Courtney: Okay, So Hi, my name is Courtney I am going to be our moderator. All of y’all have

a participation sheet in front of y’all if you just want to look over that. If you have any questions.

Just some general things that it says are the confidentiality clause- all topics and responses

discussed in the focus group will remain confidential and will only be used for research and data

analysis for purposes for our class. Your participation is voluntary and you have the right to

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discontinue participation at anytime, you also have the right not to answer any questions you do

not feel comfortable answering. This will last no longer than an hour. Our focus group will be

recorded because we do not want to miss any of your comments. Is this okay with everyone.

(Participants: “Yes”) Recordings will be kept confidential and will be transcribed for data

analysis purposes. Along with recording this focus group, notes will be taken to improve

accuracy. Okay, so we are going to go around the room if everyone could just tell me their name

and age. Again, I’m Courtney, I’m 22.

Mary: I’m Mary, I’m 22 also.

Sarah: I’m Sarah, I’m 21.

Alex: I’m Alex, 51.

Jessica: Jessica, 23.

Lauren: Lauren, 23.

Justin: Justin, I’m 29.

Courtney: It was very nice meeting everyone. First, we are going to talk about media use habits

and we can just kind of go around the room and if you do not feel comfortable answering

anything feel free to pass on the question. So Sarah, we will start with you. What kind of media

platforms do you use most frequently? Examples being Television, Internet, mobile phones,

blogs and newspapers.

Sarah: Um, I usually check the news on my phone. That’s part of like my daily routine. Um,

Usually Huffington post and CNN are my go-to’s.

Alex: Uh, Newspaper, fox news.

Courtney: What about you Jessica?

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Jessica: Um, check the news on my phone, fox news, um, I’m sorry, what was your first

question?

Courtney: Just what media platforms do you use most frequently?

Jessica: Okay, um, yeah.

Lauren: Phone, Internet, just anything.

Justin: Uh yeah, my phone. I use the pages app and it has a news reader. So I use that.

Courtney: Why do ya’ll use these specific platforms?

Justin: Are we still going around the room...?

Courtney: It’s kinda just...

Alex: Television is simpler for me, I am sitting there watching it kinda just flipping channels.

CNN, Fox news.

Sarah: I can’t think of a particular reason, I mean mostly phone out of convenience, So..

Jessica: Phone, because if I have down time at work or something I can pull it up in the few

seconds I have.

Lauren: I think that is exactly the same for me.

Courtney: Okay, now that we have discussed your media preferences we are going to talk about

water use behavior. In what ways do you normally use water on a daily basis?

Sarah: I shower everyday, um I don’t know, I think normal stuff.

Alex: Shower, watering shrubs, flowerbeds, grass.

Jessica: Is this at home or at work?

Courtney: Throughout the day, whatever you’re doing that day.

Jessica: I shower, I wash my hands a lot, like 40 times a day.

Lauren: Shower, I use drinking water, I have a pitcher so filling that and putting it in the fridge.

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Justin: Um yeah, like shower, my yard has a sprinkling system so that. Um, that cost me, at least

thats what LP&L is telling me I am spending a lot of money.

Alex: Haha, yeah.

Justin: And like washing dishes, doing laundry and all that stuff that happens when you have

multiple people in your family.

Courtney: So, okay, the average family uses 400 gallons of water per day. How much would

you say you use? Your family use? And do you think you use more than the average amount of

water? So that would be 100 gallons per day.

Sarah: Um, I don’t know I would say probably around that. There’s two people in my

household. I think that the 400 is for a four person household. So yeah, I would say that is

probably pretty average.

Alex: I’d say about 200 or over.

Jessica: Probably about 200, or a little over.

Lauren: I think I’m probably below average. I mean showering and like maybe running the

dishwasher but I try not to do that as often- Maybe once or every other week, So…

Justin: Alright, well now our dishwasher is broken so now its name is Justin, which I don’t

know if that uses more or less water for me to hand wash vs. the dishwasher. But I think I

probably use more than most if we are counting the yard and which my lawn total.

Courtney: Okay, Do you care about conserving water. If not, why do you not care and if yes,

what is your motivation behind conserving water?

Sarah: Yes, I do care. I am from a very small town right outside of Lubbock that is actually

drying up its well water and in the next five years it will be a dried up, little ghost town cause

they don’t have the money to get it from somewhere else. So it’s definitely a little more personal

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for me so I try to be more conservative because I don’t want to see that happen everywhere else,

so..

Alex: I try to save water when watering when, uh, I think the beds need it or the grass cause of

the water shortage, droughts, and things like that.

Jessica: I try because I like follow the rules and watering restrictions and stuff.

Courtney: What about you, Lauren?

Lauren: I think I, maybe not purposely, but I use a lot less water. Just because I try to follow the

rules and most of the time I forget when it’s my day so I don’t end up watering and um, we only

run the dishwasher like once a week or every other week and we only do laundry on one day a

week so I conserve, maybe not purposely but I definitely try to.

Justin: I conserve because I, uh, am an outdoorsman so I do a lot of fly fishing and a lot of

things that need water for the fish to live for me to catch them. Um so, it matters to me that Lake

Meredith is pretty much nothing and Lake Alan Henry went up like 20 percent in a week. Like

those little things that are kind of menial to other people, Like that is a big difference for me and

like what I do and how I spend my free time. Um, that being said, my neighborhood is really

bad, so I live in Melanie Park, and my neighborhood is like awful about like people watering like

every single morning. And so like even if I am still like kind of technically breaking the law I am

still not as bad as my neighbors so I actually feel like I am conserving water but I’m not. So I

have been better in the past two months because of all the rain. I only water when the grass really

needs it.

Courtney: Okay. So, Sarah, you kind of told us about your motivation to save water. What about

the rest of y’all?

Alex: My motivation is drought because I hear all the time that we are running out of water.

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Courtney: Does anyone have anything different than the drought?

Justin: I mean the cost of water is like super high too and that is influenced by the drought so

yeah.

Lauren: I just don’t want my water bill to be like a ridiculous amount so

Jessica: That’s probably the biggest motivation

Lauren: It’s scary...yeah.

Courtney: So the bill prices? Okay. So what would motivate you to educate others to conserve

water?

Alex: My children, so they have a lot more money.

Sarah: As I said earlier, you know I was from a small town and a lot of people that live there

have lived there their entire life and like what is going to happen to them when the water dries

up. So like just kinda like the personal human aspect definitely motivates you to get the message

out there.

Jessica: I think that’s a good one.

Courtney: Do you try to stay informed or learn about the water, drought issues? Why or how?

Or is this just something that just comes up on the news? So is something given to you or do you

try to stay informed about it?

Alex: I listen to it in the news, if I'm interested in it I want to find out more about what is going

on.

Jessica: I do not pay attention to it but my fiancé does a lot so he tells me.

Courtney: Haha, well thank you for your honesty.

Jessica: Haha, just to help y’all.

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Lauren: I think that the only time that I’ve like done research on it is like when I see differences

in my bill so if one month my bill is a lot cheaper I’ll be like “Hmm I wonder why this is,” but

other words it’s just kinda like what I see or hear about on the sidelines.

Justin: I check USGS, US Geological service, they uh gage, height, meters basically

you can go online and see what they are doing. So I do that once every couple of weeks for my

favorite rivers because I want to know where they are at. Like Lake Meredith, Lake Alan Henry,

Buffalo Springs, so I check that. And it’s because I am a super numbers geek. I am a researcher,

that is what I do. So I want to know it went up ‘X’ amount and oh, there was this range from this

watershed and all that but not necessarily- yeah it was whenever my bill was like in August when

I paid like $180 in water and I’m like “WHAT HAPPENED?” and I’m like oh..

Alex: Yeah, I find myself comparing bill like water usage, like I put them side to side

Jessica: Mhm, sometimes they don’t read your meter though, they just go back from what your

last bill is and they keep it and you have to call them to come out and it’s all annoying. So I get a

little upset with the water situation.

Alex: That’s true because yesterday I mowed my sister’s backyard and alley and there were

weeds this high, there’s no way they were moving the weeds to look into the water meter, no

way. It hadn’t been touched in a while so..

Courtney: Do y’all know what the Ogallala Aquifer is and how do you think it impacts your

community?

Sarah: Yeah, we get a lot of water from that, so a huge impact. It’s also a big political issue right

now because texas takes a lot more of the water than new mexico so I keep up with that pretty

well I think.

Alex: It’s a huge water lake under the ground and we all get water from it.

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Jessica: I remember learning about it in undergrad. Other than that, no.

Lauren: Yeah, I think like name recognition wise but I don’t think I could give you a description

or where it was or anything more than that.

Justin: It’s under most of the great plains. It goes just about- below the permian basin. So it’s a

big deal now basically because fracking and all these other things where they take this water and

they shove it down under the rock to fracture it to bring oil out of it. Then they take that dirty

water and they’ll pay these ranchers to shove it 200 feet beneath the ranch but essentially what

the oil companies are doing is paying these ranchers to shove nasty, mercury water into our

aquifer and our aquifer is drying up. So we don’t have any good water but the water that we do

have is like poisoned.

Alex: They’re contaminating the good water.

Justin: Yeah, what is left they are shoving all this junk into so..

Jessica: Oh I have something. Back to your thing about encouraging people to know about water

conservation.. This is just something I learned about a couple weeks ago at work, was that,

apparently bottle water is not as good for you as tap water is and even people were talking about

the Lubbock water and how it taste so bad and stuff people think it is bad for you. It is not

possibly nearly as bad for you because they don’t have restrictions on what they put in bottle

water at all it is not like a FDA regulated thing and but on tap water there is like tons of

restrictions so it is actually a lot cleaner and better for you than drinking bottle water.

Alex: As long as they don’t ship it across state lines, bottle water then they are good.

Jessica: Mhm, they were talking about FIJI water and stuff like that that people pay so much

money for so if people knew that- I have patients that say the tap water in Lubbock is going to

kill them.

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Justin: No, it won’t kill them, it might just stain their teeth. But I use an every drop filter it like

this little looks like an upside tear drop so I can run the tap water straight through it and put it in

my coffee pot or my water bottle or whatever and it takes like two seconds.

Alex: Netflix has a good show on water, um bottled water.

Courtney: Do you think that would be a good way to motivate people?

Alex: Good documentary. Well, I for a while stopped buying water after I saw that.

Courtney: Haha well maybe I should watch it. Okay, so now we are going to transition to

questions regarding the High Plains Water District. The first question is are you aware of the

High Plains Water District and what they do and how did you hear about them?

Sarah: I am not personally aware, no.

Alex: I am not personally aware, I’ve heard about them throughout my life.

Jessica: (Shakes head no)

Lauren: Yeah, I’ve never heard of them.

Justin: They have an office somewhere on the east side. I see it as I drive by... I have a

photographic memory. So I saw it and was like “Oh yeah” but I have no idea what they do.

Courtney: Um, so the next question is what are your personal attitudes toward HPWD? But

since ya’ll don’t know what it is.......

Justin: It’s mildly positive I guess.. They have a sign and it wasn’t in papyrus or comic sans so I

liked it.

Courtney: Do you think other people are aware of HPWD?

Sarah: Probably not, no.

Alex: Um, depends on who and what they do.

Justin: I’m sure farmers have a lot higher...

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Alex: They are probably more educated than anybody.

Courtney: So just hearing the name, HPWD, would you think people have a positive or negative

perception right now?

Sarah: After all the rain probably high, I don’t know.

Alex: I don’t know...If you associate them with your water bill....

Jessica: Yeah that is what I was just thinking..probably not. There is not a whole lot of positive

stuff about what people are doing in Lubbock for your water.

Alex: So yeah if you think they are associated with the billing then of course, we don’t like them.

Lauren: I don’t think there is a positive, I don’t know, I don’t think it is just Lubbock that

doesn’t have any positive views on water right now. It’s pretty much a nationwide thing so I

think just basic, people have a negative viewpoint on it.

Justin: I would limit that to the high plains. I lived in the mid west for four years where I lived

about 250 feet from a river and about two miles from the largest reservoir in Indiana. No one

there thinks about water. Consequently it rains there so much that no one waters there yard or

does any of those kinds of things

Alex: You’re right about that because I’ve been in Michigan.

Justin: Yeah, it’s the same kind of thing. We had a well and never worried about it going dry

and we had a septic and never worried about it going toxic or anything because it was always

there but like in the high desert, Abilene to Albuquerque and north yeah for sure.

Jessica: Even Austin is bad because of all these lakes drying up because these people...

Justin: Like the house that fell of the cliff in grapevine of whatever it was... or grand prairie

Courtney: Okay, What do you think HPWD can do to bring more awareness to themselves?

Alex: Commercials, television commercials,

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Jessica: What is it?

Courtney: Okay, so High Plains Water District- Mary...

Mary: Um, well their main mission is to conserve water. They get paid taxes. So their main

mission is to get people to conserve water by telling people how to filter their rain and all that

easy stuff. So...

Courtney: And they do not set your water prices. They have nothing to do with water prices

whatsoever.

Justin: I think TV is super expensive, um I think radio in this town is super cheap. So like radio,

commercials. The five o'clock news in this town is not only really hilarious because it is so bad

which all of the news are hilarious because it is all so bad but I feel like the 5 o’clock they are

just begging for people to come in and talk to them about things. They are like “And this week

on our medical minute...this guy rolled his ankle.” So they can have people go in and contract

with them to do a monthly conservation tip. How do you conserve water in the month of

October? How do you conserve water in November? December? You know have something that

is kind of repeated and admittedly the 5 o’clock news in Lubbock probably has like 78 viewers.

But if I’m home I’d watch it. They would more than likely do it for free. So you could do that,

radio ads, they could sponsor MPR.Which I know sounds weird. It is super cheap. Do them like

150 dollars and they will say your companies name and mission. And it will take like 15

seconds. If you were going to buy a 15-second ad on, I don’t know, Kiss 101.2, or whatever it is

called now, that would probably cost you 300-400 bucks.

Alex: Electronic billboard

Justin: Yeah, anything that is going to be- the electronic one on 19th and university is preachy. I

am just trying to think of something like-cause they don’t have any money.

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Sarah: I mean social media is just about free unless you invest in trying to do...

Justin: Unless you buy followers or something.

Sarah: It could technically be free if they go about it in the right way.

Jessica: I think you could talk to the Kinetico and water filtration people and see if you could

like partner with them because I mean that is supporting their business as well and get more in

home filtration systems and also like West Texas homeowner association- they do the parade of

homes and home builder shows and things like that. It would be a perfect place to go ahead and

like ask the homebuilders like can we put a cute little sign that says how to conserve water

because people who are looking to buy houses, sell houses- it’s a nice little thing to have there

and you can even have Kinetico “Hey get one of our water filtration systems,” or something. I

just think that might reach out to a different audience and those are the people that own homes

and actually manage their own water because a lot of people in this town don’t own a home- like

when you’re in an apartment you’re not going to be managing your own water. If anything it’s

like watering your lawn. So if you could really focus on homebuilders or things like that you

might reach out to a different audience.

Alex: What would grab my attention would be maybe be a shocking 30 second commercial as to

what is going to happen when your town runs out of water. When everyone has to move their

lives, leave memories behind, you know, whatever.

Lauren: Well I think right now the trendy thing on social media platforms is articles. And I can’t

tell you how many stupid articles I read because I click on them on Facebook, then follow them,

then share them with my mom or something like that. So even if they are posting something as

easy as a shocking article on their website then putting it on Facebook and Twitter- it will get

around. Even if it is something silly- like we didn’t know that thing about bottled water so I think

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that people would share. I don’t know if it would be super trendy but I’d probably share that with

my mom.

Justin: And it would be cheap for them to make..

Lauren: Yeah, exactly. It would just be someone sitting down and writing an article.

Justin: It would take four hours of someone’s time

Jessica: They could also do like business initiatives and stuff where they could go out to like the

bank- like I see- oh my gosh the bank near my house waters there grass like 40 times a week like

it is just going through the night and day and half the time it must be broken they are not that

crazy. But if they went out and talked to companies that they thought used a lot of water or

something like that, and do employee programs like “how much water did you save” and can do

a raffle or something like that. They do that for weight loss and stuff and the obesity campaigns

do stuff like that. They could do a water one for offices they know probably use a lot of water.

Sarah: That is interesting, I like that one.

Courtney: Okay, so y’all basically went above and beyond my expectations for that answer. And

the next one goes into it as well, it is, what do you think is the best way to reach residents in your

community and the best way to educate them about HPWD? Does anyone have anything they’d

like to add? I think we kinda went into that. No? Okay. So if you’re on social media are you

aware that HPWD is on social media? If yes, what do you think of their social media presence?

If no, would you consider liking their Facebook page or following them on twitter?

Sarah: I mean, like obviously none of us knew what it was so we didn’t know they were on

social media, um, but yeah, I’d definitely like or follow them.

Alex: I am aware that they are on there and I clicked onto their link.

Jessica: I’m indifferent.

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Lauren: If something popped up saying “Hey, you should like this,” I probably would I don’t

know if I would seek it out to start following it.

Justin: I don’t know what they put on their either like..

Mary: They put on little tips and stuff

Justin: Yeah that would be helpful and things that I could retweet or actually read and enjoy

rather than just like “Hey, don’t use so much water.” I’m like thanks, you’re making me feel real

guilty right now.

Jessica: They could go to the kids schools, like the elementary schools and stuff and like start

with the younger kids. I mean those are probably the kids that are having like four baths a day

because they want to.

Justin: Mmm, I don’t know my wife is a teacher and some of those kids only have like four

baths a year.

Courtney: So for anyone that said they would not follow them, why would you not want to

specifically? I know you were kinda indifferent Jessica.

Jessica: I’m busy so if I do go into Facebook I don’t like random things, if it is nothing

pertaining to said thing. Also when I get things in the mail and it is not something I care about I

throw it out. I don’t know it is just clutter.

Courtney: Okay. Well this focus group has been conducted on behalf of our project for High

Plains Water District. Um, we kinda already told y'all about the organization and what it does. So

just again to emphasize, they don’t control your water prices, so don’t hate them. Thank you so

much for taking time out of your day and helping us with our campaigns project, we really

appreciate your answers and they will help us complete our campaign.

Justin: Awesome.

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Courtney: Any further questions? Or anything you’d like to add?

Alex: I’m just wondering city is going to make up for the loss of revenue cause we are not using

as much water because of all the rain? What kind of tax we are going to get

Courtney: Luckily for HPWD that is not their problem.

Alex: I understand.

Justin: I am sure my property taxes will go up.

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Appendix E

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103