A preliminary assessment and subsequent data evaluation of socioeconomic indicators of water quality

Urban and agricultural runoff, changes to land use patterns and other anthropogenic sources of pollution affect water quality. Water quality is a key factor in ecosystem health. While physical and ecological models of pollution have been widely used to determine water quality, there is a significant gap in the use of socioeconomic metrics in these models. Numerous studies have explored the effects and/or trends of impaired water quality on socioeconomic factors. However, less information is available on the impact of socioeconomic factors on surface water quality. This study conducted a literature review of commonly assessed human activity and socioeconomic variables associated with water quality and assessed the availability of data to quantify these variables. The intent of this review is to apply available evidence-supported data to two case studies in the Texas Coastal Bend: Baffin Bay and San Antonio Bay. From the literature, commonly used socioeconomic metrics include land use/land change, community type, demographics, and population density. Possible point sources of pollution that relate to socioeconomic factors identified were wastewater treatment facilities, stormwater drainage, mining and oil extraction operations, and product manufacturing/ chemical production. Furthermore, this presentation will provide a preliminary assessment of data sources, data gaps, and recommendations.