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Human Dimensions of Water Quality: Aligning Human Use and Perceptions with Biophysical Measurements
Citation:
Mulvaney, K., N. Merrill, S. Lyon, AND M. Mazzotta. Human Dimensions of Water Quality: Aligning Human Use and Perceptions with Biophysical Measurements. Social Coast Forum, Charleston, SC, February 05 - 08, 2018.
Impact/Purpose:
Human perceptions of water quality influence how we use different waterbodies and affect their social and economic value. Little is known about how well human perceptions of water quality align with biophysical measurements of water quality in coastal waters, so we sought to identify the major influences of human perception of water quality. This information was then used to identify what biophysical measurements of water quality are the most relevant to human perceptions. This helps us connect why water quality improvements can be important to communities.
Description:
Nutrient overenrichment is a significant problem in coastal waterbodies, particularly estuaries, across the United States. At the Atlantic Ecology Division of the U.S. EPA, we are working on an interdisciplinary project to understand the impacts of nutrient overenrichment on Cape Cod’s estuaries to both the biophysical environment and to humans’ use of their estuarine systems. A key component of understanding changes in use because of water quality improvement or degradation is identifying the relationship between human perceptions and biophysical measurements of water quality across a range of coastal access points. Qualitative focus groups and content analysis were conducted to gauge perceptions of water quality and to identify biophysical metrics that are representative of human perceptions of estuarine and marine water quality. Finally, we conducted synchronous field sampling of recreational use at coastal access points across a range of water quality parameters, including nutrients. For the more than 300 access points on Cape Cod we tested several methods for parceling ecological data into spatial zones that correspond to human use, including aggregating and mapping coastal access points and breaking up the coastline based on social and biophysical features and data availability. Collectively, this work helps us to better connect human perceptions and biophysical metrics of water quality with efforts to restore good water quality in coastal systems.