New Survey Targeting Underrepresented Iowans Reveals Limited Usage of Lake Resources

Abstract

A large region of low-to-no-oxygen zone—a hypoxic zone—forms every summer over the past three decades in the Gulf of Mexico, largely due to excessive nutrient runoff from states located within the upper Mississippi River Basin, including Iowa (Scavia et al. 2017; Rabalais and Turner 2019; Bianchi et al. 2010; Jones et al. 2018). Moreover, the excessive nutrients in local rivers and lakes results in the deterioration of water quality conditions within Iowa's water bodies. One of the emerging concerns pertains to the occurrence of harmful algal blooms (HABs), which pose health risks to individuals engaged in recreational activities within water bodies. Over the past two decades, the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development has undertaken numerous household surveys, funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), with the aim of understanding the utilization of in-state lake recreational resources by Iowans, as well as the impact of water quality conditions on respondents’ choices of recreational destinations. Building upon the support provided by the Iowa Nutrient Reduction Center and the United States Geological Survey (USGS), we conducted a survey specifically designed to enhance our comprehension of lake recreation usage among households from underrepresented communities that were previously overlooked in earlier surveys.