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Professor’s survey takes region’s pulse on floods, Iraq

Sacramento Region residents are worried about floods and pessimistic about the war in Iraq, says sociology professor Amy Liu.

For her “2006 Sacramento State Annual Survey of the Region,” Liu and more than 30 students surveyed residents in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties Feb. 4 to March 5.

This is the fifth year Liu has done the survey, and findings are often reported in local media.

The survey was completed shortly after Gov. Schwarzenegger declared a levee emergency in the Central Valley and in the weeks leading up the third anniversary of the Iraq War. And news headlines during that period appear to have played a role in residents’ opinions.

In the week following the Governor’s declaration, the percentage of the region’s residents who said flood control is a big issue jumped from 38 percent to 54 percent. Residents’ approval of the governor’s overall flood control efforts jumped from 37 percent to 53 percent, while those who said they supported his $3 billion flood control bond idea went from 48 percent to 53 percent.

On the topic of Iraq, just 26 percent of the region’s residents said they believe things will be better next year, down from 36 percent last year. The negative mood was heightened by the bombing of an important Shiite shrine on Feb. 22, after which only 21 percent predicted things would be better.

Other flood findings included:

• Sacramento Region residents aren’t very well prepared for a flood or large disaster, with half having no evacuation plan for themselves and their families. Even among those who know they are in a flood plain, 47 percent have no evacuation plan, and 34 percent carry no flood insurance.
• Nearly nine out of 10 residents think local governments should restrict construction of new homes in areas with inadequate flood protection—this was true regardless of county of residence or voting preference.
• Seventy percent of those polled say new homes built in those areas should to have the living space elevated above potential flood waters. But those who don’t live in flood areas were more likely to support elevated housing (72 percent) than those who live in flood areas (66 percent).
• Almost 90 percent of respondents are in favor of requiring developers to pay a fee for flood control projects if they want to build in areas likely to flood. Fewer (66 percent) are in favor of requiring all property owners protected by levees to buy flood insurance.

Other Iraq findings included:

• Residents are divided on the idea of a timetable for withdrawing troops from Iraq. Fifty percent support setting a timetable for removing troops regardless of whether U.S. goals are achieved, while 43 percent support keeping troops there as long as it takes to accomplish U.S. goals.
• Predictions about the future in Iraq are heavily driven by political affiliation, according to the survey. Among Republicans, 53 percent say the next year will be better in Iraq, while 7 percent of Democrats say it will be better.
• The survey also found the lowest regional support for the war in three years, with 36 percent saying it was worth going to war in Iraq. That’s down from 50 percent in 2004 and 38 percent in 2005.
• Support for the war varied strongly throughout the region. In El Dorado and Placer counties, for example, 46 percent of residents say it was worth going to war in Iraq. In Sacramento County, 33 percent agree with that assessment and in Yolo County 29 percent agree.

The survey included 1,122 randomly selected adults in the Sacramento Region who were interviewed in English and Spanish. It has a margin of error of 3 percent.

Full reports from the surveys are available with the news releases at www.csus.edu/news.