Predictors of coastal stakeholders' knowledge about seawater desalination impacts on marine ecosystems

Abstract

This study investigates variables that shape coastal stakeholders' knowledge about marine ecosystems and impacts of seawater desalination. The influence of trans-situational and situation-specific variables on self-assessed and factual knowledge among coastal residents and commercial marine stakeholders. Data were collected using a questionnaire based survey administered to a random sample of coastal residents and commercial marine stakeholders in eight communities in central California. Knowledge of biological features was higher than knowledge of physical and chemical processes. Both trans-situational and situation-specific variables were significant predictors of knowledge, in particular gender, education, and ocean use patterns. TV and social media were the only information sources that correlated negatively with knowledge. Predictors for distinct types of knowledge were different and provide insights that could help target specific ocean literacy gaps. The study also finds that commercial marine stakeholders were more knowledgeable than other coastal residents. Having an economic stake in the marine environment appears to be a strong motivation to be more educated about the ocean.

Message framing strategies for effective marine conservation communication

“…Although public surveys suggest some knowledge and concern about marine issues (see, for examples, Buckley et al, 2017; Easman, Abernethy, & Godley, 2018; Gelcich et al, 2014; Heck, Petersen, Potts, Haddad, & Paytan, 2018), persisting knowledge gaps about marine anthropogenic threats in many jurisdictions (Blasiak et al, 2015; Chen & Tsai, 2016; Chilvers et al, 2014; Westgarth‐Smith, 2018) suggest that there are limitations in the information that the public receives (Lotze, Guest, O'Leary, Tuda, & Wallace, 2018; Trenouth et al, 2012). This includes the news media – critical platforms that shape public environmental perceptions (Corbett, 2006).…”

Biological and Physical Effects of Brine Discharge from the Carlsbad Desalination Plant and Implications for Future Desalination Plant Constructions

“…Toxicity testing with high-salinity seawater has been conducted on a few key Californian rocky-reef species (i.e., Haliotis rufescens (Red Abalone), Strongylocentrotus purpuratus (Purple Urchin) and Dendraster excentricus (Sand Dollar)) and all proposed SWRO desalination facilities are required to use hydrological modeling to estimate the impact area of discharging brine [12,36]. However, uncertainties and concerns persist regarding potential impacts of SWRO desalination brine on coastal environments, especially among coastal users and the general public [37,38].…”

Investigating societal attitudes toward marine ecosystem restoration

“…Socioeconomic status has been found in the past to be a predictor of knowledgeability and awareness of the marine environment (Steel et al 2005;Heck et al 2018). There is also likely to be a relationship between an individual's engagement with the marine environment and environment issues generally and their awareness/willingness to support marine restoration (Steel et al 2005;Perry et al 2014;Aanesen et al 2018;Heck et al 2018). Engagement with the marine environment and environmentalism were measured through the aforementioned questions regarding an individual's use of coastal amenities and membership of an environmental organization.…”

“…As discussed by Steel et al (2005), if knowledge is largely determined by socioeconomic variables then the scope for changing public knowledgeability may be Restoration Ecology June 2021 limited, as socioeconomic variables tend to be static. The significance of both socioeconomic and context-related explanatory variables points to a potential positive return in awareness-raising programs that encourage engagement with the marine environment (Steel et al 2005;Heck et al 2018).…”