IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natsus/v4y2021i11d10.1038_s41893-021-00770-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Challenges of managing harmful algal blooms in US drinking water systems

Author

Listed:
  • Galen Treuer

    (University of Connecticut)

  • Christine Kirchhoff

    (University of Connecticut)

  • Maria Carmen Lemos

    (University of Michigan)

  • Francesca McGrath

    (University of Michigan
    Arcadia Fund)

Abstract

Inland freshwater harmful algal blooms are a growing threat to drinking water worldwide. Here we present the results of a national survey of how drinking water managers experience and perceive both nuisance harmful algal blooms and toxic harmful algal blooms (TABs) (N = 335) in the United States. We find that previous experience with harmful algal blooms increases drinking water systems’ planning and preparation. However, unexpectedly, we also find that (1) water managers who experienced TABs rate them as more difficult to manage than do those with no previous TAB experience, and (2) managers in systems that experience TABs become increasingly reliant on internal resources to respond to TABs once they occur rather than reaching out for external sources of information and technology. This turn towards self-reliance could make the effective dissemination of state-of-the-art information and solutions more difficult among water systems and further isolate some vulnerable systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Galen Treuer & Christine Kirchhoff & Maria Carmen Lemos & Francesca McGrath, 2021. "Challenges of managing harmful algal blooms in US drinking water systems," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 4(11), pages 958-964, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:4:y:2021:i:11:d:10.1038_s41893-021-00770-y
    DOI: 10.1038/s41893-021-00770-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-021-00770-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41893-021-00770-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yanan Liu & H. Allen Klaiber, 2023. "Don’t Drink the Water! The Impact of Harmful Algal Blooms on Household Averting Expenditure," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 86(1), pages 29-55, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:4:y:2021:i:11:d:10.1038_s41893-021-00770-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.