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Water quality, energy, and socioeconomics: Path analyses for studies of causality
Author(s) -
Kaplan E.,
Thode H. C.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/wr017i003p00491
Subject(s) - water quality , quality (philosophy) , environmental science , streams , range (aeronautics) , variance (accounting) , econometrics , statistics , geography , mathematics , computer science , ecology , economics , engineering , biology , computer network , philosophy , accounting , epistemology , aerospace engineering
Water quality data for 65 variables were obtained for the period 1955–1977 and aggregated on a county basis. Measurements were taken primarily for streams in New England, the Middle Atlantic States, and Ohio. When a subset of 138 counties with complete data was used, it was found that county aggregation statistical procedures resulted in data which describe known chemical characteristics of natural waters. Energy and socioeconomic data were merged with water quality data for these 138 counties. A path diagram was proposed to provide insight into possible causal relations between energy production and consumption activities and water quality. Direct and indirect pathways from energy production and use were traced to three factors characterizing water quality: specific conductance, hardness, and dissolved metallic ions. This analysis explained 25–40% of the variance in three water quality factors and indicated the applicability of this technique to regional assessments of water quality impacts due to a range of human activities.