Water-based Recreation Research Articles

Uncovering disparities in water-based outdoor recreation using cell phone mobility data

Abstract Outdoor recreation plays a pivotal role in improving people’s physical and mental health, serving as a popular form of entertainment and a significant economic contributor. Limited access to these resources not only exacerbates health disparities but also deprives underserved areas of essential benefits like stress relief and community bonding, both of which are crucial for enhancing overall quality of life. This paper provides one of the first detailed analyses of water-based recreation at over 61 000 inland and coastal sites across the United States. We aim to explore disparities in recreational behavior across race, ethnicity, income, and socioeconomic status. Using Advan cellphone data from more than 70 million outdoor trips, representing 215 000 census block groups, we find that communities of color, rural areas, and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups are significantly underrepresented in water-based recreational visits. Despite living similar distances from recreational sites, these groups show notably different patterns in travel distance for water-based recreation. Additionally, we find Native Americans from underserved areas have to travel 3–5 times longer distances than other groups for water-based recreation. Our findings show that the extensive and frequent cellphone mobility data could reveal policy-relevant patterns especially those made by underserved Americans often overlooked in traditional household surveys.

Spatio-Temporal Variation in the Exceedance of Enterococci in Lake Burley Griffin: An Analysis of 16 Years' Recreational Water Quality Monitoring Data.

Recreational waterbodies with high levels of faecal indicator bacteria (FIB) pose health risks and are an ongoing challenge for urban-lake managers. Lake Burley Griffin (LBG) in the Australian Capital city of Canberra is a popular site for water-based recreation, but analyses of seasonal and long-term patterns in enterococci that exceed alert levels (>200 CFU per 100 mL, leading to site closures) are lacking. This study analysed enterococci concentrations from seven recreational sites from 2001-2021 to examine spatial and temporal patterns in exceedances during the swimming season (October-April), when exposure is highest. The enterococci concentrations varied significantly across sites and in the summer months. The frequency of the exceedances was higher in the 2009-2015 period than in the 2001-2005 and 2015-2021 periods. The odds of alert-level concentrations were greater in November, December, and February compared to October. The odds of exceedance were higher at the Weston Park East site (swimming beach) and lower at the Ferry Terminal and Weston Park West site compared to the East Basin site. This preliminary examination highlights the need for site-specific assessments of environmental and management-related factors that may impact the public health risks of using the lake, such as inflows, turbidity, and climatic conditions. The insights from this study confirm the need for targeted monitoring efforts during high-risk months and at specific sites. The study also advocates for implementing measures to minimise faecal pollution at its sources.

Impact of water-based recreation on aquatic and riparian biodiversity of small lakes

Lakes offer important recreational sites for people; however, water-based recreation may interfere with conservation objectives. In this study, we examined the impact of recreational use of small stagnant water bodies (<22 ha) on several aquatic and riparian biodiversity indicators (species richness, Simpson diversity-index, and number of endangered species) across multiple taxa (waterfowl, songbirds, damselflies, dragonflies, amphibians, fishes, submerged macrophytes, riparian herbs and trees). Samples were generated from 39 gravel pit lakes in Lower Saxony, Germany. Recreational use intensity was quantified using a stratified roving creel survey design involving citizen scientists. Recreational use had little correlation with the different biodiversity indicators that we examined. Most of the variance in biodiversity was explained by non-recreation related environmental and land use variables. Yet, a consistent negative relationship between recreation and biodiversity was found for dog walking, which was negatively associated with the species richness of songbirds, fish, and riparian herbs. Other recreational effects were positive, e.g., increased human use intensity correlated positively with the species richness of fishes and riparian herbs. Moreover, lakes used exclusively by anglers hosted a larger fish species richness at the expense of amphibian richness, likely due to predation impacts by fish. The abundance of dogs was found to be more influential in terms of recreation-related impacts than human density per se, possibly because wildlife perceives dogs as a stronger threat stimulus than human presence. Experimental work is needed to substantiate the correlative evidence presented here.

Recreation Area Characteristics and Their Impact on Property Values within Florida’s Wekiva River System

Water-based recreation areas provide many benefits to society and the ecosystem services they provide are increasingly being considered in land planning and conservation decisions. We examine the value of the Wekiva River in central Florida using a hedonic valuation model of residential property values. We analyze how structural characteristics of single-family homes and recreation area characteristics, such as fee systems, size of the area, and activities provided, impact property values. We find that publicly owned recreation areas with both land and water-based recreation activities increased property values within 5 miles of the Wekiva River. Proximity to recreation areas marginally increased housing values, and the size of the recreation areas and ecosystem type had no impact on property values. We recommend that recreation managers and land use planners focus efforts on conserving more publicly owned conservation lands that increase recreation access to residents to promote contiguous natural areas.

Water quality advisory impacts on recreation behaviour and associated economic costs

One of the major rationales for improving water quality is to increase the benefits and enjoyment of water-based recreation yet quantifying these behavioural responses and values remains challenging. We apply a recreation demand model using a large, multi-year data set on camping trips and water quality advisories across provincial parks in Alberta. The recreation data includes information on over 447,000 trips by 225,700 individuals over a five-year period. We use a nested logit model to understand people’s recreation choices to one of 76 campgrounds. We find that the presence of a water quality advisory has a negative impact on the likelihood of visiting an affected campground. On the one hand, this suggests that advisories work in limiting human contact with unsafe water, but these behavioural changes also carry economic costs. We estimate that the welfare costs of a beach advisory are $14 per camping trip. We use the model to evaluate the welfare impacts of removing all beach advisories. These results can be used to inform the design of policies aimed to improve lake water quality.

Featured Collection Introduction: Severe Sustained Drought Revisited: Managing the Colorado River System in Times of Water Shortage 25 Years Later — Part I

Featured Collection Introduction: Severe Sustained Drought Revisited: Managing the Colorado River System in Times of Water Shortage 25 Years Later — Part I

Considering the Revolution

Considering the Revolution

Ecological impacts of water-based recreational activities on freshwater ecosystems: a global meta-analysis.

Human presence at water bodies can have a range of ecological impacts, creating trade-offs between recreation as an ecosystem service and conservation. Conservation policies could be improved by relying on robust knowledge about the relative ecological impacts of water-based recreation. We present the first global synthesis on recreation ecology in aquatic ecosystems, differentiating the ecological impacts of shore use, (shoreline) angling, swimming and boating. Impacts were assessed at three levels of biological organization (individuals, populations and communities) for several taxa. We screened over 13 000 articles and identified 94 suitable studies that met the inclusion criteria, providing 701 effect sizes. Impacts of boating and shore use resulted in consistently negative, significant ecological impacts across all levels of biological organization. The results were less consistent for angling and swimming. The strongest negative effects were observed in invertebrates and plants. Recreational impacts on birds were most pronounced at the individual level, but not significant at the community level. Due to publication bias and knowledge gaps, generalizations of the ecological impacts of aquatic recreation are challenging. Impacts depend less on the form of recreation. Thus, selectively constraining specific types of recreation may have little conservation value, as long as other forms of water-based recreation continue.

Countrywide screening of spatiotemporal overlap between coastal and marine recreation and waterbirds in Denmark

Coastal zones are important for recreational activities and waterbirds. However, recreational activities may have negative implications for birdlife, which calls for balancing of both types of use by integrated coastal and marine planning and management. Successful integrated management and planning require spatiotemporal knowledge about the species needing protection and the outdoor recreation activities. This paper examines water-oriented outdoor recreation in Denmark in terms of activities, seasonality and geographical distribution, and presents a national screening of spatiotemporal overlap between coastal and marine recreational activities and waterbirds based on 10,291 responses and 6,499 geographical positions. In total 77.6% of the Danish population participated in water-oriented outdoor recreation activities at least once within a year. The most frequent activities were to move along or stay on the coast/shore (63.9%), to bathe and swim (34.4%) and to observe nature and wildlife (20.3%). Overlap between recreation and waterbirds, representing potential conflicts, ranged from 0.8% in winter on water to 27.7% in summer on the coast. The results revealed significant negative effects between recreational activities and abundance of waterbirds during spring and summer on the water. The results also indicate that most recreational activities use areas with no or low densities of waterbirds. Successful coastal and marine planning requires application of management tools that include educational and interpretative initiatives to enhance coexistence. However, for detailed management, more studies are urgently needed of spatiotemporal patterns, adaptations, conflicts and coexistence between recreational activity and waterbirds. The results support integrated planning and management of water-based recreation in conjunction with waterbirds by: - Providing spatially explicit year-round data on recreational and waterbird use of coastal and marine areas. - Obtaining the first ever national overview of potential areas of conflict and of possibilities for coexistence between coastal and marine recreation and waterbirds. - Identifying specific local areas in need of management action and more detailed studies of effects and impacts of coastal and marine recreation on waterbirds.

What's ‘SUP’ with paddlers? Integrating spatial, social, and ecological data to understand behavior among paddlesport users at a popular lake destination

Non-motorized, water-based recreation (e.g., paddlesports) represents one of the most sought after outdoor activities in U.S. Parks and Protected Areas (PPA). Among paddling options, stand-up paddleboarding represents the activity with the highest levels of growth. However, stand-up paddleboarding has yet to be spatially examined in a PPA setting. This research paired GPS-tracking data of paddlesport users with corresponding social and environmental information to build a robust understanding of paddlesport behavior and experience in PPA. Statistical classification procedures revealed distinctions in movement across paddling activity types, highlighting implications for resource protection and visitor flow management. Integrating spatial and non-spatial data identified numerous drivers and impacts of paddlesport use: the motivation to escape corresponded to traveling further distances, while higher group sizes and prolonged shoreline exposure aligned with concentrated use levels near parking lots and facilities. Results broaden our knowledge of recreationist movement and experience, and add to a growing body of PPA research that incorporates mixed method spatial approaches to research designs. Furthermore, these findings contribute novel information on paddlesport spatial behavior in PPAs, especially given the emergent introduction of stand-up paddleboarding.

WATER QUALITY MONITORING OVER FINGER LAKES REGION USING SENTINEL-2 IMAGERY ON GOOGLE EARTH ENGINE CLOUD COMPUTING PLATFORM

Abstract. Surface water quality is degrading continuously both due to natural and anthropogenic causes. There are several indicators of water quality, among which sediment loading is mainly determined by turbidity. Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI) is one indirect measure of sediments present in water. This study focuses on detecting and monitoring sediments through NDWI over the Finger Lakes region, New York. Time series analysis is performed using Sentinel 2 imagery on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. Finger Lakes region holds high socio-economic value because of tourism, water-based recreation, industry, and agriculture sector. The deteriorating water quality within the Finger Lake region has been reported based on ground sampling techniques. This study takes advantage of a cloud computing platform and medium resolution atmospherically corrected satellite imagery to detect and analyse water quality through sediment detection. In addition, precipitation data is used to understand the underlying cause of sediment increase. The results demonstrate the amount of sediments is greater in the early spring and summer months compared to other seasons. This can be due to the agricultural runoff from the nearing areas as a result of high precipitation. The results confirm the necessity for monitoring the quality of these lakes and understanding the underlying causes, which are beneficial for all the stakeholders to devise appropriate policies and strategies for timely preservation of the water quality.

The Lifeguard Rescue Reporting System: Survey Results from a Collaborative Data Collection Method

Several water safety organizations have attempted to improve reporting regarding lifeguard actions in order to better understand the characteristics of successful, non-fatal rescues. In 2003, a collective effort initiated the Lifeguard Rescue Reporting System, an online survey distributed to lifeguards and facility managers across the United States and Canada to better understand rescue actions performed in pools/spas, water parks, and open water areas. After seven years of data collection, the online survey accumulated data reflecting 1,676 rescue actions, collecting information including location, victim characteristics and outcome, rescuer characteristics and strategies, and other general circumstances. Descriptive results indicated that at least half of victims were 14 years old or younger across all settings. Depths of 0.9-1.5m (3-5 ft) represented the range at which incidents most frequently occurred in pools and spas and waterparks, whereas the depth of incidents was generally deeper in natural and open waterways. During rescue incidents, water safety personnel generally identified victims either visually (83-92% of the time) and/or audibly (18-29%), although victim “profiling” was also employed 10-14% of the time to identify at-risk swimmers. Notably, across all three water setting types, no medical aid was required in most cases (60-72%), suggesting the efficacy and essentiality of lifeguards as aquatic first responders. Accordingly, as water-based recreation maintains its popularity, systematically collecting and analyzing data specific to everyday, rescue actions are critical to improving lifeguard education and strategic, data-based operating procedures.

Window of Economic Opportunity or Door of Exclusion? Nandoni Dam and Its Local Communities

The construction of Nandoni Dam started in 1998 and was completed in 2005. The main promises made to affected communities living around the dam were that they would receive water and there would be economic opportunities for them. Water-based recreation and ecotourism at the dam were seen as the main vehicle for economic opportunities; it was envisaged that these would not only create local employment but would also improve local lives and livelihoods. The paper focuses on the rhetoric of economic opportunities and poverty alleviation and the perceived reasoning that the creation of the dam is the way forward for rural development. To achieve this aim, the study combined qualitative and quantitative methods. The claim that the creation of the dam would result in increased economic benefits for local residents is firmly rooted in business interests. The adoption of business or economic approach by government through the Department of Water and Sanitation has created conditions for segregation within society. The study also found that the creation of Nandoni Dam benefits those who are rich and elite, government officials, and politicians at the expense of the local population, and this has long-lasting detrimental impacts on their lives and livelihoods. The study concludes by giving an overview of lessons learned from the case study and suggestions for best practice that can enhance the long-term sustainability of dam projects.

Feral swine as sources of fecal contamination in recreational waters

Recreational waters are primary attractions at many national and state parks where feral swine populations are established, and thus are possible hotspots for visitor exposure to feral swine contaminants. Microbial source tracking (MST) was used to determine spatial and temporal patterns of fecal contamination in Congaree National Park (CONG) in South Carolina, U.S.A., which has an established population of feral swine and is a popular destination for water-based recreation. Water samples were collected between December 2017 and June 2019 from 18 surface water sites distributed throughout CONG. Host specific MST markers included human (HF183), swine (Pig2Bac), ruminant (Rum2Bac), cow (CowM3), chicken (CL), and a marker for shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC; stx2). Water samples were also screened for culturable Escherichia coli (E. coli) as part of a citizen science program. Neither the cow nor chicken MST markers were detected during the study. The human marker was predominantly detected at boundary sites or could be attributed to upstream sources. However, several detections within CONG without concurrent detections at upstream external sites suggested occasional internal contamination from humans. The swine marker was the most frequently detected of all MST markers, and was present at sites located both internal and external to the Park. Swine MST marker concentrations ≥ 43 gene copies/mL were associated with culturable E. coli concentrations greater than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency beach action value for recreational waters. None of the MST markers showed a strong association with detection of the pathogenic marker (stx2). Limited information about the health risk from exposure to fecal contamination from non-human sources hampers interpretation of the human health implications.

Importance-performance analysis of residents' and tourists’ preferences for water-based recreation in the Southeastern United States

Increasing demand for water-based recreation comes with the need for recreation site managers to consider how to best satisfy different stakeholder groups. However, much of the previous water-based recreation literature has treated resident users and tourist users as one homogeneous group despite differences in frequency of use, proximity to site, and economic importance of visitation to the local economy. Hence, this study segmented residents from tourists and conducted separate importance performance analyses (IPA) to see if these two distinct groups have different preferences for and perceptions of stream-access sites in southeast Appalachia. Data were collected using an intercept survey method across ten different Tennessee Valley Authority stream-access sites in north Georgia and western North Carolina. Independent samples t-tests reveal significant differences between residents and tourists on 10 of the 23 importance attributes and performance attributes. The IPAs reveal different quadrant placements for 9 of the 23 attributes. Specifically, tourists expressed greater dissatisfaction with information accessibility such as online information and river maps, and residents tended to place higher importance on the boating aspects of stream-access sites with higher levels of importance placed on attributes such as ramps, put in and take out sites, and room to maneuver trailers, illustrating the efficacy of segmenting residents and tourists within the context of IPA. Implications include management aims addressing both residents' and tourists’ preferences for stream-access sites to simultaneously enhance regional tourism for its economic benefits while enriching the experiences of residents.

Coping with crowded recreation settings: A cross-cultural investigation

The “satisfaction model” of crowding in outdoor recreation has provided insight into the relationship between recreationists’ negative evaluation of setting density and their evaluation of the leisure experience. Much of the literature has demonstrated a consistently weak association leading many to ponder the presence of other confounds. Several authors have suggested the importance of recreationists’ ability to cope with setting conditions. We examined the mediating effect of recreationists’ coping abilities on the crowding-satisfaction relationship in the context of water-based recreation across three countries; the United States (n = 2,252), Taiwan (n = 2,566), and Korea (n = 462). For all countries, different coping strategies were employed by boaters to maintain their enjoyment. Invariance testing was used to identify variation in the structural relationships tested in our model. The varied experiential meanings across the three countries manifested itself in the way setting density was evaluated and, in turn, elicited responses to accommodate the condition to maintain recreationists’ enjoyment.

Socio-cultural perceptions of flood risk and management of a levee system: Applying the Q methodology in the California Delta

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is an agricultural, recreational, historical, and cultural center and the hub of the state's water supply system. For decades the region has been ripe with political controversies stemming from conflicting interests over its natural resources which all depend on the protection of approximately 1800 km of earthen levees that surround over 60 islands, some of which are below sea level and two-thirds of which are privately owned. This study uses the Q methodology to explore the discourses of the broad range of stakeholders, including farmers, land- and water-based recreation enthusiasts, water exporters, utilities, environmentalists, and government agencies, about flood risk and flood management in the Delta. The results of this study reveal five distinct views regarding the risk of submersion of one or more islands due to either overtopping during high waters or structural levee failures. The findings of this study also elucidate nuanced narratives on the viability of anticipatory climate change adaptation in the Delta. Proximity, sense of vulnerability, values, trust, and views of climate change are the underlying factors in these perspectives. The perspectives identified suggest that resolving decades of distrust among stakeholder groups will remain difficult; however, taking a cultural approach to understanding perspectives may provide an opportunity to open up the conversations to adaptation approaches, and thus fulfill the legal mandate to protect the Delta as an evolving place.

Economic Value of Florida Water Resources: Contributions of Tourism and Recreation to the Economy

This paper is a part of the EDIS series “Economic Value of Florida Water Resources” and it presents results from economic studies examining benefits from water-based recreation in Florida. Our special focus is freshwater-based recreation. Specifically, studies examining the “economic contribution” or “economic impact” of recreation activities around various natural sites are discussed. Interested reader can pick and choose the studies most relevant to his/her area of interests or those discussing recreational sites nearby.https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/fe1065

Water-based recreation management: a normative approach to reviewing boating thresholds

Riungu GK, Hallo JC, Backman KF, Brownlee M, Beeco JA, Larson LR. 2020. Water-based recreation management: a normative approach to reviewing boating thresholds. Lake Reserv Manage. 36:139–154. Recreational boating is one of the major water-based recreation activities in the United States. Multiple public natural lakes and rivers are used for boating, but these waterways are a limited natural resource. The building of dams and their associated reservoirs have increased opportunities for boating, but even these areas at times remain quite crowded. In order to ensure that both resource and experiential capacities are not exceeded, density-related thresholds for boating, measured in surface acres of water per watercraft, need to be determined. Despite thresholds specifying the minimum acceptable conditions for boating, agencies managing waterways often apply thresholds that are not site-specific or evidence-based, and fail to solicit input from the public. Therefore, thresholds for boating capacity vary widely. Social norms have been widely applied in park and outdoor recreation management, and hence are likely to enhance the consistency, objectivity, and accuracy of estimation of boating capacity and the utilization of this capacity. This study applied normative approaches to estimate utilization of boating amenities and to update boating thresholds at 2 reservoirs in Washington State. Additionally, the study found visitors’ perceived level of crowding was a significant predictor of their perceptions of safety and security at both reservoirs. Therefore, there is a safety-related need for waterway managers to determine and implement crowding-based boating thresholds derived from visitor perceptions.

Valuing inland blue space: A contingent valuation study of two large freshwater lakes.

Water bodies, or blue spaces, offer a range of health and well-being benefits. Many of these benefits occur in waterside spaces and do not require direct water contact. For example, non-water based physical activity (e.g. walking and running) and reduced stress as a result of viewing water from a distance. However, research dedicated to understanding the economic impact of changes to freshwater ecosystems predominantly focuses on water-based recreation and water quality. As a result, the economic impacts of changes to waterside space are often overlooked. This study used the contingent valuation method to determine public preference for the protection of lakeside quality, in terms of lake views, path quality and lakeside access, at two large freshwater lakes in Scotland (Loch Lomond and Loch Leven). The aim of the study was to estimate willingness to pay among a sample of adults in Scotland (n=1056) for the protection of lakeside quality. Results indicate that the majority of respondents are willing to pay for the preservation of lakeside quality at each lake. Based upon the most conservative estimates obtained, mean willingness to pay for the protection of lakeside quality was £12.06 per household per year at Loch Lomond and £8.44 at Loch Leven. These findings provide valuable economic data and suggest that changes to waterside space at destination water bodies have nationally important economic impacts. Greater consideration of the economic impact of changes to lakeside space is recommended in order to develop cost-effective and socially optimal water resource management policies at large freshwater lakes.