The eighth annual State of the Rockies poll released by Colorado College this week took the public pulse in eight states on public lands and how that’s being handled by the Trump administration, energy, and water.

The latter examined attitudes in the West on water, just as Colorado and its western neighbors are facing a below-average snowpack for 2018. That in turn brings up concerns for levels at both Lake Powell, which is Colorado’s water “bank,” and Lake Mead in Arizona, which supplies hydroelectric power to western states such as Nevada.

According to Colorado College, which commissioned the survey from two bipartisan polling firms, the polling “demonstrates high levels of awareness of the severity of water supply issues among westerners, and strong support for conservation measures.”

The poll found:

The poll also found that concerns over inadequate water supplies also have grown since the poll was first commissioned in 2011. Back then, 75 percent of respondents believed those low supplies were a serious problem; now 80 percent do, with 50 percent believing it is very or extremely serious.

That’s good news, sort of, to those who are trying to educate Coloradans on the state’s water future.

Becky Mitchell, director of the CWCB, told Colorado Politics that people are paying more attention. She said the poll’s results appear to be reflective of what’s in the state’s water plan and one of its goals, to educate people about water. Mitchell also said it’s important to recognize that people are becoming more aware of recycling and the economy associated with the Colorado River. “The solutions [to Colorado’s water needs] are all encompassing” and not a one-size-fits-all,” she said. That people are paying attention is helpful, and this awareness “puts Colorado in a better place to move forward.”

Matt Rice, director of the Colorado Basin Program for American Rivers, said in a statement that the poll showed it’s “time for us to take action to protect our access to recreation and the grandeur of our mountains, rivers, and natural resources. We must preserve Colorado’s rivers and streams which contribute to the quality of life we hold so dear.”

The poll sampled 400 registered voters in Colorado, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming in late December and early January. The poll has a margin of error of 2.85 percent as a whole and 4.9 percent in individual states.

Photo courtesy State of the Rockies poll, Colorado College.