US lakes are monitored disproportionately less in communities of color

Abstract

Local-scale environmental justice studies of freshwaters have found that marginalized populations are more likely than others to be burdened with poor-quality waters. However, studies have yet to examine whether monitoring data are sufficient to determine the generality of such results at the national scale. We analyzed racial and ethnic community composition surrounding lakes and the presence of one-time and long-term (≥15 years) water-quality data across the conterminous US. Relative to lakes in White and non-Hispanic communities, lakes in communities of color and Hispanic communities were three times less likely to be monitored at least once. Moreover, as compared to lakes in White communities, lakes in communities of color were seven times less likely to have long-term monitoring data; similarly, as compared to lakes in non-Hispanic communities, lakes in Hispanic communities were nineteen times less likely to have long-term monitoring data. Given this evidence, assessing the current water quality of and temporal changes in lakes in communities of color and Hispanic communities is extremely difficult. To achieve equitable management outcomes for people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds, freshwater monitoring programs must expand their sampling and revise their designs.