Michelle Del Rio

Project abstract

The proposed pilot needs assessment builds upon two recent CRE-funded studies, first our group’s formative research into tap water provision in the Indiana Uplands region and second Farm to Health, through which residents of Crawford and Orange counties reported low levels of water consumption and routinely avoiding drinking tap water.

Now, by conducting the proposed needs assessment, our team will prepare to compete for sources of federal funding to examine and support water as a simultaneous source of health and risk. We will look at water’s intersectional qualities as both a healthy beverage, and, at the same time, a site of lead (Pb) exposure. The pilot will build upon our team’s existing relationships with water providers in Crawford County and its community foundation. We will partner with two schools within Crawford County’s lone school system to pilot a baseline needs assessment of the schools’ water infrastructure, water routines, and their leaders’ perspectives on the schools’ water security. The needs assessment will concentrate on these facets of water: lead exposure, plentiful cold, filtered water, water security, and student's beverage routines.

Community partners

• Crawford County Community Foundation
• Crawford County Community Schools
• Crawford County water utilities
  • Patoka Water Company
  • Patoka Lake Regional Water and Sewage District
  • Town of Leavenworth
  • Blue River Regional Water District
  • Ramsey Water

Campus partners

• Department of Environmental and Occupational Health
• School of Public Health
• Sustainable Food Systems Science
• Ostrom Workshop

Counties involved

• Crawford