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Recreational User Perceptions of Water Quality and Relationships with Biophysical Water Quality in Marine Waters
Citation:
Mulvaney, K., M. Mazzotta, AND N. Merrill. Recreational User Perceptions of Water Quality and Relationships with Biophysical Water Quality in Marine Waters. Social Cost of Water Pollution Workshop, NA, Virtual, April 21 - 23, 2021.
Impact/Purpose:
Water quality perceptions affect how people use and value water. We developed a set of methods for investigating how people develop their perceptions, what the biggest influences are, and how well those perceptions match biophysical measurements.
Description:
Coastal recreational users’ choices of site and activities are often influenced by their perceptions of the quality of the water, but there is limited understanding of how those perceptions are developed and how well they reflect the biophysical characteristics of the site. Water quality perceptions may also influence people’s sense of place, support for protection of a waterbody, and likelihood of recognizing risks presented by water pollution. To better understand water quality perceptions, we developed a coastal water quality scale based on a literature review and six focus groups to identify qualitative characteristics that influence perceptions of water quality in coastal areas. The literature review identified relevant work that could be applied to investigations of water quality perceptions of marine waters concerning the connections between recreational uses, site characteristics, and water quality. In the focus groups, participants identified water quality as an important characteristic that influenced their choice of location for coastal activities. The focus groups also revealed a number of attributes contributing to perceptions of water quality, including water clarity, debris, prevalence of seaweed, and reputation/history of beach closures. The scale was piloted in a survey of coastal recreation in New England that also investigated specific information about recreation site locations, water quality perceptions, sense of place, trip characteristics, and demographics. We investigated the relationships between the water quality perception responses and geospatial data for state 303(d) water quality impairments and state beach and shellfish closures data (proxies for bacterial contamination) as well as for water clarity measurements for the participant-identified recreation locations. Of the attributes identified in the focus groups, clarity had the strongest influence on overall water quality perceptions. The results also indicate relationships between people’s water quality perceptions and some biophysical measurements, but with considerable nuance relating to types of water quality impairments. The mixed qualitative and quantitative methods approach of literature review, focus groups, and survey data coupled with biophysical data allowed us to better understand how perceptions are developed and how they relate to the marine environment.
