My Land, Our Water

Water information for rural landowners in the Saugeen and Maitland watersheds.

About This Project:

Project Process

Listed below are the key steps taken as the My Land, Our Water project has developed. For further information on the project process please see the Terms of Reference. Your feedback on the projects would be appreciated. Please use the contact page to send us your comments.

1. Steering Committee and Team of Resource Experts formed
2. Development of Terms of Reference
3. Identification of key target users - rural landowners, municipal and county staff, agribusiness professionals, real estate agents
4. Identification of key assumptions underlying the project
• most rural residents in the Saugeen and Maitland watersheds obtain their drinking water from private wells, actions to protect water need to be undertaken at the individual farm level
• landowners are interested in the information being presented
• despite the limitations of the Intrinsic Susceptibility Index at the farm scale, landowners will benefit from viewing the vulnerability mapping
• users have a limited tolerance for reading text on screen
5. Review of other projects/websites with similar mapping content
6. Review and evaluation of software options for the mapping application. Cuesta's GeoPortal software chosen.
7. Conservation Authority staff identified initial content and navigation changes needed to improve the usability of the mapping application.
8. Initial design and content of the web site developed. My Land, Our Water brand created.
9. The Maitland Watershed Partnerships Water Team reviewed the mapping application. This session revealed several elements of the mapping application that users had difficulty with. In particular, users had trouble navigating through the mapping process. Refinement of the mapping application was undertaken based on these results.
10. The Saugeen Water Action Team reviewed My Land, Our Water. Additional changes were made based on the results of this session.
11. The mapping application was then tested with a series of small groups. Efforts were made to reach some target users including farmers, municipal and agency staff, and agribusiness professionals. Several specialty groups were also targeted including seniors, secondary school students, cottage owners and Conservation Authority staff. Approximately thirty individuals reviewed the mapping application through this process. The results were very consistent at this stage. Most users had difficulty with the same parts of the mapping application. These problems related to the usability of the application rather than the content. Users reactions to the content (How did the vulnerability assessment for their property make them feel? Does the mapping information reflect what they know about their property?) was recorded during these sessions.
12. Planning for the extension visits began. The purpose of these visits is to determine how landowners react to the vulnerability mapping and to learn how they prefer to receive this type of information (website, office visit, extension visit). An outline/approach for the visits was developed by Conservation Authority staff. Several resource experts assisted with crafting the questions to be used during the visits as well as the summary form to be completed by staff following the visit. Resource materials for participating landowners were developed based on the My Land, Our Water website content. Extension staff reviewed these materials and suggested changes before the visits got underway.
13. Extension staff conducted farm visits. Twelve visits were completed. Landowners responded very positively to the visits and the information presented.
    

Next Steps

Now that the website has been launched efforts are underway to follow-up on the key questions of:

• How do landowners respond to the vulnerability mapping?
• Does the mapping information accurately reflect what the landowners know about their property?
• How do users in our watersheds prefer to receive this information?

Further improvements to My Land, Our Water will be undertaken by:

• Conducting additional group sessions and farm visits in the Saugeen watershed.
• Encouraging individuals from the Saugeen and Maitland watersheds to review the website on their own. Conservation Authority staff will be conducting follow-up sessions with these users to evaluate their experience.
• Having previous testers review the site again (on their own). 
• Using local media to promote the site and to encourage landowners to visit the Conservation Authority offices to view the information with staff support.
• Incorporating aerial photos of the Saugeen watershed when they become available late in 2006.
• Expanding the site to include the Ausable Bayfield watersheds. This information is expected to be available in the fall of 2006.
  
• If time and resources permit, information sessions will be provided to agricultural groups in the watersheds.

Project Terms of Reference