Waterways and Risk Perception in the City of Eau Claire

October 19, 2016

Introduction

            The purpose of this paper is to introduce my research topic, the relevance of my topic, and the data that will be used in correspondence to my research. I chose to center my research on the waterways that are present within the city limits of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. More specifically, my research question is “What areas within Eau Claire’s waterways are more prone to fatal accidents, and what trends can be associated with both victims and the locations of their accident?” To achieve this research question I will be using multiple data types including: local newspaper articles and police reports of drownings within my study area, regional maps and records of the waterways associated with drownings, peer reviewed articles by authors like Peden (2016), Turgut (2012), and Hellman (2015), and government based reports from organizations like the US Census Bureau, Center for Disease Control, and Eau Claire’s Economic Development Division.

Research Data

             I chose this research topic due to Eau Claire’s spatial and demographic characteristics. When the City of Eau Claire is inquired about on Google Earth, it can be seen rather quickly that many different waterway features dominate the city. Furthermore, Google Earth shows that the confluence of two major rivers, the Eau Claire River and Chippewa River, convene near the city’s center. With an estimated population of 67,778 (US Census Bureau, 2015) in 2015, mixed with multiple natural water features within city limits, I believe that river safety should be a major consideration for the Eau Claire area.

Newspaper Articles

Figure 2.1: This excel spreadsheet consists of data for drowning victims recorded in the City of Eau Claire from 2002 to 2016. All data on victims was located through local news articles

            The first data type I considered in my research were newspaper articles and police reports of the different drownings within the Eau Claire City limits. As of right now, my data on drowning victims is limited to newspaper articles by Leader Telegram and WEAU 13 News, that are archived on the internet. However, I am currently in contact with the crime analyst of Eau Claire, and will meeting with him in hopes of receiving a more complete record of the areas drowning victims from 1990 to present. From the online news articles I was able to locate 13 different cases of drowning from 2002 to 2016. Data collected from these news articles was then condensed into an Excel spreadsheet (figure 1.0). This spread sheet will be then be used to create a database that can be further analyzed in ArcMap. The attributes I chose to look at were the victims’ sex, ethnicity, age, blood alcohol content, whether or not the drowning was accidental, and if the individual was currently a college student. I also took note of the general location of the accident and the latitude and longitude associated with it. Although, it should be noted that the coordinates listed are a generalized estimate of where the actual accident occurred, based on the data provided by the news articles. However, it is my hope to clarify the actual locations of these accidents with the data that will be provided by Eau Claire’s crime analyst.

Regional Maps

            To reference the coordinates depicted in figure 1.0, I used two main sources. The first was Google Earth, and the second was a set of maps that were recently produced by Sean Hartnett (2016). The first source, Google Earth, was used to locate longitude and latitude associated with the location. Whereas the second source was used to reference locational depths and potential hazards of the areas associated with the accidents. Once rules are assigned to my excel speadsheet, the database will be used to create a map that specifies high risk areas within Eau Claire’s city limits.

Peer Reviewed Articles

            While looking at regional maps, I had noticed that the waterways within Eau Claire are either rivers, or river based features such as dams and oxbow lakes. For this reason, I focused my research on articles pertaining to risk assessment, risk perception, and similar case studies associated with rivers. At this point in time, I have seven articles that I have found useful for my research topic. However the articles that have had the most relevance to my research are: Living with floods and coping with vulnerability by J. Hellman (2015), Fatal river drowning: the identification of research gaps through a systematic literature review by A.E. Peden (2016), A study on rescuer drowning and multiple drowning incidents by A. Turget (2012), and The Hidden Tragedy of Rivers: A Decade of Unintentional Fatal Drowning in Australia by A.E. Peden (2016)

            In general it was rather difficult to find articles related to river based public safety. This is as Hellman (2015) notes is due to situational characteristics of the area involved, meaning that mitigation and public prevention methods are based on the community involved instead of a specific model. Furthermore, Peden (2016) notes in his article, Fatal river drowning: the identification of research gaps through a systematic literature review, that “Unlike other location-specific prevention efforts (home swimming pools and beaches), little is known about prevention targeting river drowning deaths” (page 1, 2016). For these reasons, I have had a hard time finding a model in which to based my research on and instead have created a generalized path of how to conduct my project. To remedy this issue I plan on talking with Hans Kishel on potential article searches.

Governmental Reports

            To obtain statistical data for the City of Eau Claire, the state of Wisconsin, and United States, I used multiple governmental reports from agencies like: the Center for Disease Control, US Census Bureau, and Eau Claire’s Economic Development Division. The data that I collected covered an array of topics from local demographics, state demographics, national statistics on drowning, and characteristics of dangerous river systems. I found this data useful for filling the data that I could not find through journal articles.

Conclusion

How the Data Relates to my Research Objective

            After developing my research question and the path I would like it to take, I believe that my research project is centered in human-environmental geography. It is because of this that both records on drowning victims in the area and regional maps become the basis of my research. Whereas the peer reviewed articles and governmental reports I found, give context to my research. This context is used to compare and contrast my study area to both state and country levels.

Sources

 Franklin, R. C., J. C. King, P. J. Aitken & P. A. Leggat (2014) "Washed away"-assessing community perceptions of flooding and prevention strategies: a North Queensland example. Natural Hazards,  73, 1977-1998.

Hellman, J. (2015) Living with floods and coping with vulnerability. Disaster Prevention and Management, 24, 468-483.

Jonkman, S. N., R. Jongejan & B. Maaskant (2011) The Use of Individual and Societal Risk Criteria Within the Dutch Flood Safety Policy-Nationwide Estimates of Societal Risk and Policy Applications. Risk Analysis, 31, 282-300.

Peden, A. E., R. C. Franklin & P. A. Leggat (2016a) Fatal river drowning: the identification of research gaps through a systematic literature review. Injury Prevention, 22, 202-209.

--- (2016b) The Hidden Tragedy of Rivers: A Decade of Unintentional Fatal Drowning in Australia. Plos One, 11, 15.

Turgut, A. & T. Turgut (2012) A study on rescuer drowning and multiple drowning incidents. Journal of Safety Research, 43, 129-132.

Zevenbergen, C., J. Rijke, S. van Herk & P. Bloemen (2015) Room for the River: a stepping stone in Adaptive Delta Management. International Journal of Water Governance, 121-140.