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Short abstract:

This paper compares two coastal water quality data dashboards in Los Angeles (USA). Findings show the dashboards’ data structures and design practices mirror other US initiatives in emphasizing bacteria count as an isolated variable, rather than part of an ecology including additional factors.

Long abstract:

Data curation practices concerning coastal water quality have significant impact on the decision-making processes related to fishing and recreation, but they are frequently characterized by poor availability and a lack of public outreach. This study examines two coastal water quality data curation initiatives in Los Angeles, California— one led by the Los Angeles Department of Public Health and another by the nonprofit Heal the Bay—to understand the prevailing information order governing the public’s relationship with coastal waterways in Southern California. Each organization collects water samples, tests for fecal indicator bacteria, and then makes select data available via an online dashboard. This study reverse-engineers the data platforms using an approach informed by digital forensics, in order to understand the digital tools and data structures that shape public knowledge of water quality.

Findings from the study are contextualized against the author’s previous research concerning similar data curation initiatives in New York City. Findings from both New York and Los Angeles show that data curation and public messaging emphasize fecal bacteria counts above all other forms of data. Although Los Angeles county places a greater emphasis on water quality’s relationship to topics such as air quality, illness prevention, and recent rainfall, their initiatives still reflect an epistemology that treats bacteria and human activity as isolated variables, rather than parts of an interrelated ecology.