Mixed Method Investigation of Effectiveness of Risk Communications for Algal Blooms in Canada

GeoNetwork record: www.gwfnet.net/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/metadata/9fd39546-2ef6-4065-82c6-46e0b9f1c550

This dataset includes:
- Environmental scan (as per Albright 2004) of bloom risk communication strategies by province
- Semi-structured interviews with government agents responsible for bloom monitoring and communication
- Database and systematic review of academic and grey literature (as per Cochrane protocol) for best practices of bloom risk communication
- Survey of public with experience of blooms to determine risk communications effectiveness in Prairies

While tools to manage harmful bloom risk for drinking waters, and recreational waters exist in Canada, they are unevenly applied and may be poorly coordinated due to splits in agency responsibilities for overall water quality, drinking water, and health. Similar problems exist in the US, and across developed and developing nations. Many regions lack technical and financial capacity to develop formal monitoring and risk management programs. Saskatchewan, for example, follows the Canadian drinking water quality guidelines for microcystin in treated municipal drinking water and recreational water supplies, but has no formal management plan. Generally, sampling occurs and advisories are issued based on the presence of a bloom (from a visual inspection) and identification of cyanobacteria in samples. Identification of a guideline exceedance may be too late for management and communication to prevent risks of exposure to cyanobacteria and their toxins, and communications channels could be improved among agencies aware of, but with differing responsibilities for blooms. Reactive management strategies relying on monitoring alone are clearly not sufficient for protecting the health of water users. Water users vary in their response to risk messaging based on factors that include geography, age, and social factors. As a result, risk amplification or underestimation of true risk may occur.

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) are a growing problem in much of the world. The impacts and risks associated with blooms, however, vary across states and nation, as do the strategies and protocols to assess, monitor, and manage their occurrence. While guidelines for water quality have been standardized nationally, responses to HABs are not. We explore strategies and protocols with the goal of understanding how to communicate risks associated with HABs to the public, through the inclusion of public perceptions of risk communications on HABs. An environmental scan was conducted on provincial and territorial government agency protocols around HABs, as well as interviews with managers responsible for HABs monitoring and messaging, surveys with members of the public in the Prairies, and a systematic review of HABs risk communication recommendations. Results suggest that there are variations in the monitoring, managing, and communicating of risk to the public. British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, and Quebec have well-established inter-agency protocols, while others follow federal guidelines. Notably, three northern territories have no protocols in place. Variations are found in monitoring, where some provinces perform regular monitoring of recreational waterbodies and others monitor on a case-by-case basis. British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Quebec use a variety of information venues (online, social media, postings, radio) to communicate risks associated with HABs, whereas others’ communications are limited. Collaboration between federal, provincial, and Indigenous communities, and agencies and authorities needs to be a priority as it aligns provincial responses and meets the comprehensive and consistent standards needed to communicate about HABs. Although standardization of protocols for HABs monitoring and communication may lead to better health risk prevention, it is not necessarily feasible in some regions given the natural variation of HABs and jurisdictional challenges.