Non Expert Survey Results
1 Dropping Data
# http://www.qualtrics.com/university/researchsuite/reporting/download-data/understanding-data-set/
N = nrow(data)
table(data$Status,exclude=NULL) #Status = 1 indicates a normal response
0 <NA>
545 0 table(data$Finished,exclude=NULL) #Finished = 1 means they reached the end of the survey, 0 means partial responses
0 1 <NA>
135 410 0 # data = data["V10"==1,] #keep only finished == 1There are 545 participants who started the survey. Should we keep only the 410 who finished the survey?
2 Basic Statistics
describe(data[,numericCols],skew=F) vars n mean sd median trimmed mad
LiveBC 1 507 1.31 0.46 1 1.26 0.00
Orgs 2 506 1.68 0.47 2 1.73 0.00
BeachfrontProperty 3 507 1.65 0.48 2 1.69 0.00
ImpC_preserve 4 478 3.91 1.10 4 4.03 1.48
ImpC_tourism 5 479 4.26 0.98 5 4.42 0.00
ImpC_waterqual 6 481 4.84 0.45 5 4.95 0.00
ImpC_econ 7 479 4.40 0.90 5 4.57 0.00
ImpC_recreation 8 479 4.74 0.54 5 4.86 0.00
ImpC_beachfront 9 479 4.83 0.52 5 4.96 0.00
ImpC_property 10 477 3.88 1.29 4 4.08 1.48
ImpA_preserve 11 410 4.19 1.04 5 4.35 0.00
ImpA_tourism 12 410 3.05 1.40 3 3.06 1.48
ImpA_waterqual 13 412 3.62 1.27 4 3.75 1.48
ImpA_econ 14 409 3.10 1.42 3 3.12 1.48
ImpA_recreation 15 411 3.22 1.36 3 3.28 1.48
ImpA_beachfront 16 411 2.90 1.47 3 2.87 1.48
ImpA_property 17 410 2.42 1.37 2 2.28 1.48
VisitFreq 18 480 3.39 1.18 3 3.46 1.48
Know 19 480 3.50 1.00 4 3.54 1.48
LocalMedia 20 473 2.80 1.13 3 2.79 1.48
LocalCommunityMembers 21 472 2.95 1.16 3 2.94 1.48
DNRDEQ_Websites 22 470 2.03 1.00 2 1.90 1.48
BCSRA_Staff 23 465 2.13 1.06 2 2.00 1.48
RecGroups 24 466 2.32 1.14 2 2.23 1.48
PublicMeetings 25 471 2.15 1.09 2 2.04 1.48
EnvtGroups 26 468 2.39 1.20 2 2.29 1.48
BusinessGroups 27 466 2.23 1.13 2 2.13 1.48
Perc_PersonalConnectionBCSRA 28 463 3.96 1.07 4 4.11 1.48
Perc_MuckSeriousProblemBCSRA 29 465 4.74 0.59 5 4.88 0.00
Perc_MuckAlwaysProblemSagBay 30 464 3.15 1.35 3 3.19 1.48
Perc_MuckIncrease 31 460 4.28 0.98 5 4.45 0.00
Perc_MuckNaturalSaginaw Bay 32 461 2.23 1.17 2 2.11 1.48
Perc_RightToCleanBeachBCSRA 33 462 4.70 0.72 5 4.88 0.00
Perc_CleanBeachMoreUseBCSRA 34 464 4.82 0.58 5 4.97 0.00
Perc_CleaningMuckLongEffort 35 463 4.56 0.77 5 4.74 0.00
Perc_CleaningMuckExpensive 36 461 3.69 0.97 4 3.74 1.48
Perc_CleanBeachRevitalizeEcon 37 464 4.44 0.84 5 4.60 0.00
Perc_RemoveWetlandsBCSRA 38 464 3.29 1.45 3 3.36 1.48
Perc_MoreResearch 39 461 3.57 1.33 4 3.71 1.48
Perc_MuckChangePastFuture 40 458 3.70 0.97 4 3.77 1.48
Perc_MuckForever 41 465 2.85 1.18 3 2.82 1.48
Perc_CleanBeforeAndAgainBCSRA 42 463 4.09 1.04 4 4.24 1.48
CausesC_FertilizerRunoffFarming 43 434 4.07 1.32 4 4.14 1.48
CausesC_WaterPollution 44 429 3.97 1.30 4 4.01 1.48
CausesC_InvasiveMussels 45 428 3.54 1.66 4 3.56 1.48
CausesC_LowerWaterLevels 46 430 3.64 1.46 4 3.67 1.48
CausesC_WaterClarity 47 424 3.30 1.80 3 3.25 2.97
CausesC_WindWaveAction 48 429 3.29 1.67 3 3.24 1.48
CausesC_NaturalProcesses 49 426 3.38 1.50 3 3.35 1.48
CausesC_LeakingSeptic 50 429 3.72 1.61 4 3.77 1.48
CausesC_WaterTemp 51 425 3.46 1.57 3 3.45 1.48
CausesC_Sewage 52 432 4.22 1.36 5 4.32 1.48
CausesC_ClimateChange 53 428 2.93 1.70 3 2.78 1.48
CausesC_Phosphorus 54 428 4.19 1.40 4 4.30 1.48
CausesC_FertilizerRunoffResidential 55 429 3.86 1.49 4 3.93 1.48
CausesC_Algae 56 428 4.34 1.24 5 4.44 1.48
CausesC_Nitrogen 57 426 4.31 1.40 4 4.44 1.48
CausesA_FertilizerRunoffFarming 58 360 4.59 1.33 5 4.74 1.48
CausesA_WaterPollution 59 356 4.48 1.42 5 4.66 1.48
CausesA_InvasiveMussels 60 355 4.33 1.60 5 4.51 1.48
CausesA_LowerWaterLevels 61 356 4.43 1.52 5 4.60 1.48
CausesA_WaterClarity 62 356 4.26 1.74 5 4.45 1.48
CausesA_WindWaveAction 63 355 4.19 1.74 4 4.34 2.97
CausesA_NaturalProcesses 64 356 4.53 1.51 5 4.73 1.48
CausesA_LeakingSeptic 65 354 4.44 1.51 5 4.60 1.48
CausesA_WaterTemp 66 354 4.49 1.51 5 4.67 1.48
CausesA_Sewage 67 356 4.45 1.54 5 4.63 1.48
CausesA_ClimateChange 68 356 4.44 1.63 5 4.64 1.48
CausesA_Phosphorus 69 351 4.72 1.31 5 4.90 1.48
CausesA_FertilizerRunoffResidential 70 357 4.59 1.39 5 4.77 1.48
CausesA_Algae 71 352 4.65 1.34 5 4.83 1.48
CausesA_Nitrogen 72 352 4.71 1.36 5 4.89 1.48
OutcomesC_HealthRisks 73 430 4.37 1.02 5 4.53 0.00
OutcomesC_ImpactsWildlife 74 427 3.96 1.22 4 4.06 1.48
OutcomesC_LowerQualLife 75 428 4.38 1.05 5 4.51 0.00
OutcomesC_LowerParkAttendance 76 427 4.60 0.93 5 4.74 0.00
OutcomesC_BadSmell 77 429 4.72 0.82 5 4.86 0.00
OutcomesC_ReducedTourism 78 430 4.63 0.95 5 4.78 0.00
OutcomesC_LessEnjoymentBCSRA 79 427 4.80 0.73 5 4.88 0.00
OutcomesC_ReducedEcon 80 427 4.53 1.00 5 4.66 0.00
OutcomesC_UglierBeach 81 428 4.88 0.68 5 4.94 0.00
OutcomesA_HealthRisks 82 371 3.81 1.53 4 3.87 1.48
OutcomesA_ImpactsWildlife 83 370 4.07 1.50 5 4.18 1.48
OutcomesA_LowerQualLife 84 370 3.22 1.69 3 3.16 1.48
OutcomesA_LowerParkAttendance 85 370 3.40 1.73 3 3.38 2.97
OutcomesA_BadSmell 86 370 3.27 1.69 3 3.21 1.48
OutcomesA_ReducedTourism 87 371 3.29 1.71 3 3.24 2.97
OutcomesA_LessEnjoymentBCSRA 88 370 3.31 1.72 3 3.26 2.97
OutcomesA_ReducedEcon 89 370 3.28 1.73 3 3.22 2.97
OutcomesA_UglierBeach 90 371 3.15 1.76 3 3.06 2.97
AEfforts_KnowCause 91 418 3.28 1.16 3 3.33 1.48
AEfforts_WantAttractBCSRA 92 414 2.97 1.24 3 2.96 1.48
AEfforts_ProvideUsefulInfo 93 416 2.61 1.14 3 2.57 1.48
AEfforts_AddressMuck 94 418 2.23 1.08 2 2.13 1.48
AEfforts_RightPeople 95 417 2.33 1.01 2 2.27 1.48
AEfforts_ImprovedBeachfrontBCSRA 96 412 2.48 1.11 2 2.43 1.48
AEfforts_ImprovedBCSRA 97 417 2.87 1.12 3 2.89 1.48
AEfforts_UnderstandLocalConcerns 98 415 2.53 1.13 2 2.49 1.48
AEfforts_EngageCommunity 99 415 2.44 1.01 2 2.40 1.48
AEfforts_CommunicateEffectively 100 417 2.27 0.98 2 2.19 1.48
AEfforts_Fair 101 414 2.55 1.07 3 2.52 1.48
AEfforts_KnowWhatToDo 102 416 2.25 1.09 2 2.13 1.48
AEfforts_NoCareFeelings 103 416 2.89 1.22 3 2.87 1.48
AEfforts_ImproveEcon 104 413 2.68 1.16 3 2.65 1.48
AEfforts_NotInterestedCleanMuck 105 416 3.00 1.28 3 3.00 1.48
MgtEff_Grooming 106 401 4.24 1.07 5 4.37 1.48
MgtEff_RemovableBarriers 107 397 3.82 1.52 4 3.89 1.48
MgtEff_PermanentBarriers 108 395 3.66 1.69 4 3.70 1.48
MgtEff_RegulateAgRunoff 109 398 4.03 1.32 4 4.11 1.48
MgtEff_RemoveAlgae 110 398 4.06 1.47 4 4.17 1.48
MgtEff_DredgeSwimmingAreas 111 394 4.03 1.57 4 4.16 1.48
MgtEff_Pier 112 394 3.51 1.81 4 3.51 1.48
MgtEff_FilterMachine 113 395 4.32 1.49 5 4.50 1.48
MgtEff_FloatingDocks 114 393 3.36 1.84 3 3.33 2.97
MgtEff_RelaxWetlandRegulations 115 395 3.85 1.73 4 3.93 1.48
MgtPrac_Grooming 116 363 3.92 1.27 4 4.02 1.48
MgtPrac_RemovableBarriers 117 360 3.54 1.63 3 3.55 1.48
MgtPrac_PermanentBarriers 118 359 3.28 1.80 3 3.23 2.97
MgtPrac_RegulateAgRunoff 119 359 3.83 1.44 4 3.87 1.48
MgtPrac_RemoveAlgae 120 359 3.65 1.65 4 3.69 1.48
MgtPrac_DredgeSwimmingAreas 121 357 3.71 1.61 4 3.76 1.48
MgtPrac_Pier 122 358 3.48 1.74 4 3.48 1.48
MgtPrac_FilterMachine 123 359 3.72 1.79 4 3.77 2.97
MgtPrac_FloatingDocks 124 356 3.47 1.78 3 3.47 2.97
MgtPrac_RelaxWetlandRegulations 125 358 3.67 1.80 4 3.72 1.48
Gender 126 416 1.45 0.50 1 1.43 0.00
Age 127 414 4.80 1.52 5 4.86 1.48
Employed 128 418 1.72 0.45 2 1.78 0.00
min max range se
LiveBC 1 2 1 0.02
Orgs 1 2 1 0.02
BeachfrontProperty 1 2 1 0.02
ImpC_preserve 1 5 4 0.05
ImpC_tourism 1 5 4 0.04
ImpC_waterqual 1 5 4 0.02
ImpC_econ 1 5 4 0.04
ImpC_recreation 2 5 3 0.02
ImpC_beachfront 1 5 4 0.02
ImpC_property 1 5 4 0.06
ImpA_preserve 1 5 4 0.05
ImpA_tourism 1 5 4 0.07
ImpA_waterqual 1 5 4 0.06
ImpA_econ 1 5 4 0.07
ImpA_recreation 1 5 4 0.07
ImpA_beachfront 1 5 4 0.07
ImpA_property 1 5 4 0.07
VisitFreq 1 5 4 0.05
Know 1 5 4 0.05
LocalMedia 1 5 4 0.05
LocalCommunityMembers 1 5 4 0.05
DNRDEQ_Websites 1 5 4 0.05
BCSRA_Staff 1 5 4 0.05
RecGroups 1 5 4 0.05
PublicMeetings 1 5 4 0.05
EnvtGroups 1 5 4 0.06
BusinessGroups 1 5 4 0.05
Perc_PersonalConnectionBCSRA 1 5 4 0.05
Perc_MuckSeriousProblemBCSRA 1 5 4 0.03
Perc_MuckAlwaysProblemSagBay 1 5 4 0.06
Perc_MuckIncrease 1 5 4 0.05
Perc_MuckNaturalSaginaw Bay 1 5 4 0.05
Perc_RightToCleanBeachBCSRA 1 5 4 0.03
Perc_CleanBeachMoreUseBCSRA 1 5 4 0.03
Perc_CleaningMuckLongEffort 1 5 4 0.04
Perc_CleaningMuckExpensive 1 5 4 0.05
Perc_CleanBeachRevitalizeEcon 1 5 4 0.04
Perc_RemoveWetlandsBCSRA 1 5 4 0.07
Perc_MoreResearch 1 5 4 0.06
Perc_MuckChangePastFuture 1 5 4 0.05
Perc_MuckForever 1 5 4 0.05
Perc_CleanBeforeAndAgainBCSRA 1 5 4 0.05
CausesC_FertilizerRunoffFarming 1 6 5 0.06
CausesC_WaterPollution 1 6 5 0.06
CausesC_InvasiveMussels 1 6 5 0.08
CausesC_LowerWaterLevels 1 6 5 0.07
CausesC_WaterClarity 1 6 5 0.09
CausesC_WindWaveAction 1 6 5 0.08
CausesC_NaturalProcesses 1 6 5 0.07
CausesC_LeakingSeptic 1 6 5 0.08
CausesC_WaterTemp 1 6 5 0.08
CausesC_Sewage 1 6 5 0.07
CausesC_ClimateChange 1 6 5 0.08
CausesC_Phosphorus 1 6 5 0.07
CausesC_FertilizerRunoffResidential 1 6 5 0.07
CausesC_Algae 1 6 5 0.06
CausesC_Nitrogen 1 6 5 0.07
CausesA_FertilizerRunoffFarming 1 6 5 0.07
CausesA_WaterPollution 1 6 5 0.08
CausesA_InvasiveMussels 1 6 5 0.09
CausesA_LowerWaterLevels 1 6 5 0.08
CausesA_WaterClarity 1 6 5 0.09
CausesA_WindWaveAction 1 6 5 0.09
CausesA_NaturalProcesses 1 6 5 0.08
CausesA_LeakingSeptic 1 6 5 0.08
CausesA_WaterTemp 1 6 5 0.08
CausesA_Sewage 1 6 5 0.08
CausesA_ClimateChange 1 6 5 0.09
CausesA_Phosphorus 1 6 5 0.07
CausesA_FertilizerRunoffResidential 1 6 5 0.07
CausesA_Algae 1 6 5 0.07
CausesA_Nitrogen 1 6 5 0.07
OutcomesC_HealthRisks 1 6 5 0.05
OutcomesC_ImpactsWildlife 1 6 5 0.06
OutcomesC_LowerQualLife 1 6 5 0.05
OutcomesC_LowerParkAttendance 1 6 5 0.04
OutcomesC_BadSmell 1 6 5 0.04
OutcomesC_ReducedTourism 1 6 5 0.05
OutcomesC_LessEnjoymentBCSRA 1 6 5 0.04
OutcomesC_ReducedEcon 1 6 5 0.05
OutcomesC_UglierBeach 1 6 5 0.03
OutcomesA_HealthRisks 1 6 5 0.08
OutcomesA_ImpactsWildlife 1 6 5 0.08
OutcomesA_LowerQualLife 1 6 5 0.09
OutcomesA_LowerParkAttendance 1 6 5 0.09
OutcomesA_BadSmell 1 6 5 0.09
OutcomesA_ReducedTourism 1 6 5 0.09
OutcomesA_LessEnjoymentBCSRA 1 6 5 0.09
OutcomesA_ReducedEcon 1 6 5 0.09
OutcomesA_UglierBeach 1 6 5 0.09
AEfforts_KnowCause 1 5 4 0.06
AEfforts_WantAttractBCSRA 1 5 4 0.06
AEfforts_ProvideUsefulInfo 1 5 4 0.06
AEfforts_AddressMuck 1 5 4 0.05
AEfforts_RightPeople 1 5 4 0.05
AEfforts_ImprovedBeachfrontBCSRA 1 5 4 0.05
AEfforts_ImprovedBCSRA 1 5 4 0.06
AEfforts_UnderstandLocalConcerns 1 5 4 0.06
AEfforts_EngageCommunity 1 5 4 0.05
AEfforts_CommunicateEffectively 1 5 4 0.05
AEfforts_Fair 1 5 4 0.05
AEfforts_KnowWhatToDo 1 5 4 0.05
AEfforts_NoCareFeelings 1 5 4 0.06
AEfforts_ImproveEcon 1 5 4 0.06
AEfforts_NotInterestedCleanMuck 1 5 4 0.06
MgtEff_Grooming 1 6 5 0.05
MgtEff_RemovableBarriers 1 6 5 0.08
MgtEff_PermanentBarriers 1 6 5 0.08
MgtEff_RegulateAgRunoff 1 6 5 0.07
MgtEff_RemoveAlgae 1 6 5 0.07
MgtEff_DredgeSwimmingAreas 1 6 5 0.08
MgtEff_Pier 1 6 5 0.09
MgtEff_FilterMachine 1 6 5 0.08
MgtEff_FloatingDocks 1 6 5 0.09
MgtEff_RelaxWetlandRegulations 1 6 5 0.09
MgtPrac_Grooming 1 6 5 0.07
MgtPrac_RemovableBarriers 1 6 5 0.09
MgtPrac_PermanentBarriers 1 6 5 0.09
MgtPrac_RegulateAgRunoff 1 6 5 0.08
MgtPrac_RemoveAlgae 1 6 5 0.09
MgtPrac_DredgeSwimmingAreas 1 6 5 0.09
MgtPrac_Pier 1 6 5 0.09
MgtPrac_FilterMachine 1 6 5 0.09
MgtPrac_FloatingDocks 1 6 5 0.09
MgtPrac_RelaxWetlandRegulations 1 6 5 0.10
Gender 1 2 1 0.02
Age 1 8 7 0.07
Employed 1 2 1 0.023 Demographics
3.1 Bay City (NQ1)
Do you live in Bay City?
- Yes -> Please enter below: How long have you lived in Bay City? (1) ____________________
- No (2)
LiveBC = factor(data$LiveBC,labels=c("N","Y"))
table(LiveBC)LiveBC
N Y
351 156 table(tolower(data$LiveBC_Text))
1 year 10 years
2 7
11 years 12 years
1 3
12months 13
1 1
13 years 14
2 1
14 years 15 years
4 5
16 16 years
2 1
17years 18 years
1 2
19 years 1954
2 1
2 1/2 yrs 2 years
1 4
2.5 20
1 3
20 years 20 yrs
5 1
2008 21 years
1 1
22 years 23 1/2 years
3 1
23 years 24 years
2 7
25 25 years
1 8
25 yesrs 25 yrs
1 1
26 years 26 yrs
3 1
27 27 years
1 4
28 28 years
1 3
29 years 3 months
1 1
3 years 30
5 1
30 years 30 yrs.
6 1
31 years 31 yrs
3 1
31years 32
1 1
32 years 33
3 1
33 year 33 years
1 3
34 years 34 yes s
5 1
34 yrs 35
1 1
35 years 35 yrs
5 1
36 years 37
5 1
37 years 37 yrs in essexville
4 1
38 38 years
1 4
39 39 years
1 4
40 years 40 years.
11 1
40 yrs 40+
4 1
41 years 41 yeqrs
3 1
41yrs 42 years
1 5
44 years 45 years
2 5
45 yrs 46 years
1 3
46 yrs 47 years
2 3
47 yrs 48 years
2 3
49 49 years
1 2
5 5 years
2 3
5 yrs 50 years
1 6
50 yrs 50+
2 1
50+ years 50years
1 1
51 years 52
2 2
52 years 52 years today...entire life!
4 1
54 years 54 yrs
5 2
54years 55
1 1
55 years 56 years
3 5
57 57 years
3 1
57 yrs 58 years
1 3
58yrs 59
1 1
59 years 6 months
1 1
6 years 60 years
1 6
60 yrs 60yrs
2 2
61 61 yrs
1 1
62 yrs.o 63 yrs
1 1
64 years 65
2 2
65 years 65 yrs
4 1
65years 66 years
1 3
66 yrs 66years
2 1
67 years 67 yrs
1 1
68 years 7 years
2 1
70 70 years
1 2
71 years 71 yrs
2 1
73 yrs. 73years
1 1
74 years 8 months
1 1
8 years 9 years
1 1
9 yr actually, linwood
1 1
all my life entire life
1 1
essexville summers only,33 yrs.
1 1 3.2 Organizations (NQ2)
Are you involved in any local organizations that are concerned with beach muck in Saginaw Bay?
- Yes -> Please list below: (1) ____________________
- No (2)
Orgs = factor(data$Orgs,labels=c("N","Y"))
table(Orgs)Orgs
N Y
160 346 qplot(Orgs)
sort(table(tolower(data$Orgs_Text)),decreasing=TRUE)
sos
45
save our shoreline
21
save our shores
3
bay area chamber of commerce
2
bay county commissioner
2
bay county health department
2
dnr
2
kawkawlin river association
2
partnership for the saginaw bay watershed
2
saginaw basin land conservancy
2
saginaw bay coastal initiative
2
saginaw bay resource, conservation & development area, inc.
2
saginaw bay walleye club
2
saginaw bay yacht club
2
5 k run
1
as a huron county commissioner i receive seasonal complaints
1
bangor township
1
bay area community foundation, linwood beach association
1
bay city yacht club
1
bay county
1
bay county convention & visitors bureau
1
bay county gov., friends of the state park, educator at the visitors center, paddle club, bay sail
1
bay soil conservation district
1
broad coalition led by the bay area chamber of commerce
1
by going to the park al mist monthly
1
chamber of commerce. sos
1
city of bay city, bay county
1
cub scouts
1
d.u., save our shoreline, kawkawlin river watershed association
1
essexville city council
1
friends of bay city state recreation area, save our shore
1
friends of state park
1
friends of the bay city state recreation area
1
huron county board of commissioners
1
huron county commizssioner
1
i am a county commissioner and i receive complaints yearly
1
kawkawlin river assoc.
1
kawkawlin river association an save our shoreline
1
kawkawlin river watershead association
1
kawkawlin river watershed association
1
kawkawlin river watershed association - board member
1
kawkawlin river watershed org
1
lone tree council
1
mdeq
1
member of sos,former member of the friends of thebcsra, and i have participated in a number of beach wellness activities
1
miss bay county, northwest cdc
1
office of the mayor
1
partnership for saginaw bay, saginaw bay coastal zone initiative
1
president - bay county townships officers assoc.
1
realtor association bay county
1
recreational boater
1
s o s
1
s.o.s.
1
saginaw basin land conservancy, bay area chamber of commerce
1
saginaw bay community sailing association
1
saginaw bay land conservancy
1
save or shorline
1
save our shore line
1
save our shorelines
1
save our shorline sos
1
sbci
1
sbcsa
1
sblc
1
sort of.....i work for a wwtp
1
sos and krwrp
1
sos member
1
sos supporter
1
sos, kawkawlin river assoc.
1
sunset beach home owners assn
1
supporter save our shoreline-sos
1
to2nship of kawkawlin
1 3.3 Own Beachfront Property (NQ3)
Do you own beachfront property or property with beach access?
- Yes (1)
- No (2)
BeachfrontProperty = factor(data$BeachfrontProperty, labels=c("Y","N"))
table(BeachfrontProperty)BeachfrontProperty
Y N
176 331 qplot(BeachfrontProperty)
3.4 Gender (NQ13)
Gender:
- Male (1)
- Female (2)
Gender = factor(data$Gender,labels=c("M","F"))
table(Gender, exclude=NULL)Gender
M F <NA>
230 186 129 qplot(Gender)
3.5 Age (NQ14)
Age:
- Under 18 (1)
- 18-29 (2)
- 30-39 (3)
- 40-49 (4)
- 50-59 (5)
- 60-69 (6)
- 70-79 (7)
- 80 or older (8)
Age = factor(data$Age,labels=c("Under 18 (1995 or later)","18-29 (1985-96)","30-39 (1975-84)","40-49 (1965-74)","50-59 (1955-64)","60-69 (1945-54)","70-79 (1935-44)","80+ (1934 or earlier)"))
table(Age,exclude=NULL)Age
Under 18 (1995 or later) 18-29 (1985-96) 30-39 (1975-84)
3 35 54
40-49 (1965-74) 50-59 (1955-64) 60-69 (1945-54)
65 102 108
70-79 (1935-44) 80+ (1934 or earlier) <NA>
42 5 131 qplot(Age) + theme(axis.text.x = element_text(angle = 90, hjust = 1))
3.6 Employment (NQ15)
Are you currently employed?
- No -> what is your status (retired, unemployed, full-time parent, etc.) (1) ____________________
- Yes -> briefly describe your line of work: (2) ____________________
Employed = factor(data$Employed, labels=c("N","Y"))
table(Employed)Employed
N Y
115 303 sort(table(tolower(data[Employed=="N","Employed_Text"])),decreasing=TRUE)
retired
87
full time parent
4
disability
1
graduate student
1
graduate student - full time
1
homemaker
1
retired -currently a citizen scientist
1
retired / disabled
1
retired biologist
1
retired from technology carrier.
1
unemployed
1 sort(table(tolower(data[Employed=="Y","Employed_Text"])),decreasing=TRUE)
education
11
teacher
10
engineer
6
management
6
health care
5
professional
4
rn
4
sales
4
business owner
3
engineering
3
manager
3
administrative
2
construction
2
county commissioner
2
dietitian
2
finance
2
government
2
it
2
office
2
physician
2
pollution investigation
2
retail
2
social worker
2
toxicology
2
34 years in the building trades
1
accountant
1
accountant,part time
1
accounting
1
accounting professtional
1
administrative-county government
1
associate real estate broker
1
attorney
1
auditor
1
auto
1
automotive
1
automotive engineerr
1
banker
1
banking
1
bay county
1
bus driver
1
business
1
business & finance
1
business process analyst
1
businesswoman and taxpayer and lifelong bay area resident
1
bussiness owner
1
call center supervisor
1
capital projects and infrastructure engineer (mechanical engineer) - the dow corning corporation
1
car sales
1
cashier
1
cfo
1
chemist
1
civil engineer
1
civil engineering intern - attending wmu
1
claims adjuster
1
cleaning lady
1
clerical
1
clerk
1
cna
1
commercial & industrial appraiser
1
commercial floors
1
commercial real estate broker
1
communication
1
communications
1
community service
1
computer science
1
conservation
1
consultant
1
consulting
1
corp exec
1
corporate training
1
county government
1
cpa
1
culinary
1
curator of education at a museum
1
customer service
1
delivery driver
1
dental hygienist
1
dentist
1
designer
1
development
1
dow
1
driving
1
elected official
1
electronic tech
1
employee health & safety
1
engineer, but upper level management
1
engineer/attorney
1
environamental educator, biologiust
1
environmental conservation
1
environmental educator
1
epoxy chemist
1
facilities management
1
fast food
1
financial advisor
1
financial institution
1
financial services
1
firefighter
1
firefighter/emt/medical assistant/undergraduate student
1
food service
1
fourth grade teacher
1
freelance graphic designer
1
geriatric medicine
1
government - secretary
1
govt. agency
1
healt
1
health
1
healthcare
1
healthcare professional
1
higher education administration
1
home healthcare
1
home improvement
1
home inspection
1
hs parapro
1
huron county commissioner
1
i work for bay county
1
insurance
1
insurance agent
1
interior designer
1
it professional
1
landscape construction
1
landscape contractor
1
law enforcement officer
1
local muncipality
1
locksmith
1
manager - saginaw bay yacht club
1
manufacturing
1
marketing
1
marketing / management
1
mclaren - medical assistant
1
mechanical engineer
1
medical
1
medical assistant
1
medical billing
1
medical consultant
1
medical field
1
mgt.
1
millwright
1
minister
1
musician
1
naturalist
1
network repair
1
non profit executive
1
nonprofit program coordinator
1
nurse
1
nursing
1
office manager
1
organization ceo
1
park ranger
1
parks manager
1
part time receiving clerk at sears
1
personnel
1
pharmacist
1
physician assistant
1
power plant
1
prepare loan documents
1
professor of english at cmu
1
property management
1
property manager
1
public agency
1
public safety
1
public service
1
pulic safety
1
real estate
1
realtor
1
recreation
1
registered nurse
1
retired
1
saginaw bay resource, conservation and development area, inc. executive director
1
sales and marketing
1
sales management
1
sales, management
1
sales/service
1
science teacher
1
secretary
1
self employed
1
service
1
slp
1
social work
1
software development
1
structural engineer
1
tech
1
technical operations support
1
technical support
1
technician
1
tennis instructor, intern, & full time student
1
tool & die maker self employed
1
tourism
1
training
1
transportation of children
1
treasurer
1
twp supervisor
1
typist clerk
1
university administration
1
usps
1
vice president of a multi million dollar organization in oakland county
1
warehouse
1
web desinger
1
welder/fabrication
1
white collar
1
wildlife ecology and management
1
work as an educator at chippewa nature center
1
workforce coordinator for communications company
1
wwtp manager
1
yes - automotive industry
1 4 Importance to Citizens vs. Agencies (NQ4)
Please rate the following issues in terms of:
A.How important each issue is to you; AND B. How important each issue is to agencies, such as the DNR and DEQ?
- 1 = not at all
- 2 = slightly
- 3 = somewhat
- 4 = a lot
- 5 = extremely
Insights:
- agency is seen as having a single purpose, namely preservation
- preservation is an issue that both parties can agree on
- water quality is seen as different things to citizens (muck) and agencies (bacteria, life harboring ability, invasives, etc)?
ImpC_preserve ImpC_tourism ImpC_waterqual ImpC_econ ImpC_recreation
[1,] Integer,6 Integer,6 Integer,5 Integer,6 Integer,5
ImpC_beachfront ImpC_property ImpA_preserve ImpA_tourism
[1,] Integer,6 Integer,6 Integer,6 Integer,6
ImpA_waterqual ImpA_econ ImpA_recreation ImpA_beachfront
[1,] Integer,6 Integer,6 Integer,6 Integer,6
ImpA_property
[1,] Integer,6 
5 Visit Frequency (NQ5)
How frequently do you visit the Bay City State Recreation Area during a typical year?
- Never (1)
- Rarely (2)
- Sometimes (3)
- Often (4)
- Very often (5)
describe(data$VisitFreq) vars n mean sd median trimmed mad min max range skew kurtosis se
1 1 480 3.39 1.18 3 3.46 1.48 1 5 4 -0.29 -0.76 0.05table(data$VisitFreq,exclude=NULL)
1 2 3 4 5 <NA>
35 72 145 126 102 65 qplot(data$VisitFreq) stat_bin: binwidth defaulted to range/30. Use 'binwidth = x' to adjust this.
6 Knowledge (NQ6)
How much do you think you know about beach muck in Saginaw Bay?
- Nothing (1)
- A little (2)
- Some (3)
- A good deal (4)
- A lot (5)
know = data$Know
describe(know) vars n mean sd median trimmed mad min max range skew kurtosis se
1 1 480 3.5 1 4 3.54 1.48 1 5 4 -0.33 -0.26 0.05table(know,exclude=NULL)know
1 2 3 4 5 <NA>
16 52 168 165 79 65 qplot(know)stat_bin: binwidth defaulted to range/30. Use 'binwidth = x' to adjust this.
7 Information sources (NQ7)
How often do you get information about beach muck from the following sources?
- 1 = never
- 2 = rarely
- 3 = sometimes
- 4 = often
- 5 = very often
info = data[33:40]
freq(info) 1 2 3 4 5 <NA>
LocalMedia 73 105 170 92 33 72
LocalCommunityMembers 58 111 146 111 46 73
DNRDEQ_Websites 173 161 93 37 6 75
BCSRA_Staff 159 152 102 39 13 80
RecGroups 141 133 111 66 15 79
PublicMeetings 170 126 117 48 10 74
EnvtGroups 140 121 120 59 28 77
BusinessGroups 154 137 101 61 13 79info2 = melt(data,id.vars=1,measure.vars=33:40,variable.name="infoSource",value.name="rating")
#qplot(data=info2,x=infoSource,y=rating,geom="Boxplot")
infoSummary = cbind(aggregate(rating~infoSource,mean,data=info2),
aggregate(rating~infoSource,sd,data=info2)[,2],
aggregate(rating~infoSource,se,data=info2)[,2],
aggregate(rating~infoSource,ci,data=info2)[,2])
names(infoSummary) = c("infoSource","rating","sd","se","ci")
sorted = order(infoSummary$rating,decreasing=T)
infoSummary[sorted,] infoSource rating sd se ci
2 LocalCommunityMembers 2.949 1.1627 0.05352 0.10490
1 LocalMedia 2.803 1.1300 0.05196 0.10184
7 EnvtGroups 2.389 1.2042 0.05567 0.10910
5 RecGroups 2.315 1.1403 0.05282 0.10353
8 BusinessGroups 2.232 1.1273 0.05222 0.10236
6 PublicMeetings 2.155 1.0893 0.05019 0.09838
4 BCSRA_Staff 2.129 1.0650 0.04939 0.09680
3 DNRDEQ_Websites 2.026 0.9986 0.04606 0.09028infoSummary$infoSource = factor(infoSummary$infoSource, levels=levels(infoSummary$infoSource)[sorted])
ggplot(data=infoSummary, aes(x=infoSource, y=rating, fill="yellow")) +
geom_bar(stat="identity", position=position_dodge()) +
geom_errorbar(aes(ymin=rating-ci, ymax=rating+ci), width=0.2,position=position_dodge(.9)) +
guides(fill=F) +
xlab("Information Source") + ylab("Rating") +
theme(axis.text.x = element_text(angle = 90, hjust = 1)) +
ggtitle("Where the public gets its information (Citizen's perspective)")
#Cluster participants according to info sources
mydata = data[,33:40]
mydata = mydata[complete.cases(mydata),]
wss <- (nrow(mydata)-1)*sum(apply(mydata,2,var))
for (i in 2:15) wss[i] <- sum(kmeans(mydata, centers=i)$withinss)
plot(1:15, wss, type="b", xlab="Number of Clusters", ylab="Within groups sum of squares")
# K-Means Cluster Analysis
set.seed(100)
fit <- kmeans(mydata, 2)
table(fit$cluster)
1 2
233 221 cSummary = aggregate(mydata,by=list(fit$cluster),FUN=mean) # get cluster means
cSummary2 = melt(cSummary,id.vars=1)
ggplot(data=cSummary2,aes(x=Group.1, y=value,fill=variable)) +
geom_bar(stat="identity", position=position_dodge()) +
xlab("Information Source") + ylab("Rating") +
ggtitle("Where the public gets its information (Citizen's perspective)")
#infoSourceCluster = fit$cluster
#data <- data.frame(data, infoSourceCluster) # append cluster assignment
##Factor Analysis##
# Correlogram
info = data[,33:40]
corrgram(info, order=T, upper.panel=panel.pie, diag.panel=panel.minmax, lower.panel=panel.pie, main="Correlations between variables")
# http://www.statmethods.net/advstats/factor.html
set.seed(100)
plot(princomp(info[complete.cases(info),]),type="l")
# Varimax Rotated Principal Components
fit <- principal(info, nfactors=3, rotate="varimax", scores=T)Loading required package: GPArotationprint(fit$loadings, cutoff=0.45, sort=T)
Loadings:
RC1 RC2 RC3
RecGroups 0.538 0.470
PublicMeetings 0.788
EnvtGroups 0.613
BusinessGroups 0.802
DNRDEQ_Websites 0.837
BCSRA_Staff 0.804
LocalMedia 0.843
LocalCommunityMembers 0.733
RC1 RC2 RC3
SS loadings 2.096 1.853 1.465
Proportion Var 0.262 0.232 0.183
Cumulative Var 0.262 0.494 0.677#calculate Cronbach alpha (internal consistency)
#reliability
#f1 <- c("sanctuary","aquarium","nature center","zoo")
#f2 <- c("hunting","fishing","camping","hike","walk park")
#alpha(exper[f1])
#alpha(exper[f2])8 Perceptions (NQ8)
Please indicate how much you agree with the following statements.
- 1 = strongly disagree
- 2 = disagree
- 3 = not sure
- 4 = agree
5 = strongly agree
- I feel a strong personal connection to the Bay City State Rec Area. (1)
- Beach muck is a serious problem at the Bay City State Rec Area. (2)
- Beach muck has always been a problem in Saginaw Bay. (3)
- The accumulation of beach muck has increased during the last 5-10 years. (4)
- Beach muck is a natural part of Saginaw Bay. (5)
- The community has a right to a clean beach at the Bay City State Rec Area. (6)
- Having a clean beach will greatly increase use of the Bay City State Rec Area. (7)
- Cleaning up beach muck will require a sustained, long-term effort. (8)
- Cleaning up beach muck will cost a lot of money. (9)
- Having a clean beach will revitalize the local economy. (10)
- Wetlands should be removed to expand the beach at the Bay City State Rec Area. (11)
- More research needs to be done on the causes of muck. (12)
- Muck levels have changed in the past and will continue to change in the future. (13)
- Despite management efforts, beach muck will never completely go away. (14)
The Bay State Rec Area has been muck free in the past and can be again. (15)
perc = data[42:56]
freq(perc) 1 2 3 4 5 <NA>
Perc_PersonalConnectionBCSRA 15 37 74 164 173 82
Perc_MuckSeriousProblemBCSRA 1 5 15 71 373 80
Perc_MuckAlwaysProblemSagBay 60 109 103 86 106 81
Perc_MuckIncrease 9 17 68 106 260 85
Perc_MuckNaturalSaginaw Bay 161 121 112 45 22 84
Perc_RightToCleanBeachBCSRA 6 5 21 57 373 83
Perc_CleanBeachMoreUseBCSRA 5 1 11 39 408 81
Perc_CleaningMuckLongEffort 5 5 36 96 321 82
Perc_CleaningMuckExpensive 5 34 176 128 118 84
Perc_CleanBeachRevitalizeEcon 5 9 50 113 287 81
Perc_RemoveWetlandsBCSRA 77 67 107 71 142 81
Perc_MoreResearch 57 39 92 131 142 84
Perc_MuckChangePastFuture 12 29 147 167 103 87
Perc_MuckForever 74 97 164 87 43 80
Perc_CleanBeforeAndAgainBCSRA 15 17 91 129 211 82perc2 = melt(data,id.vars=1,measure.vars=42:56)
percSummary = aggregate(value~variable,function(x) c(mean(x),sd(x),se(x),ci(x)),data=perc2)
percSummary = cbind(percSummary,unlist(percSummary[,2]))
percSummary = percSummary[,-2]
names(percSummary) = c("topic","mean","sd","se","ci")
#reorder factor levels
sorted = order(percSummary$mean,decreasing=T)
percSummary$topic = factor(percSummary$topic, levels=levels(percSummary$topic)[sorted])
percSummary[sorted,] topic mean sd se ci
7 Perc_CleanBeachMoreUseBCSRA 4.819 0.5819 0.02702 0.05295
2 Perc_MuckSeriousProblemBCSRA 4.742 0.5891 0.02732 0.05355
6 Perc_RightToCleanBeachBCSRA 4.701 0.7227 0.03362 0.06590
8 Perc_CleaningMuckLongEffort 4.562 0.7729 0.03592 0.07040
10 Perc_CleanBeachRevitalizeEcon 4.440 0.8421 0.03909 0.07662
4 Perc_MuckIncrease 4.285 0.9787 0.04563 0.08944
15 Perc_CleanBeforeAndAgainBCSRA 4.089 1.0417 0.04841 0.09489
1 Perc_PersonalConnectionBCSRA 3.957 1.0702 0.04974 0.09748
13 Perc_MuckChangePastFuture 3.699 0.9727 0.04545 0.08909
9 Perc_CleaningMuckExpensive 3.694 0.9689 0.04513 0.08845
12 Perc_MoreResearch 3.568 1.3328 0.06207 0.12166
11 Perc_RemoveWetlandsBCSRA 3.289 1.4514 0.06738 0.13206
3 Perc_MuckAlwaysProblemSagBay 3.149 1.3539 0.06285 0.12320
14 Perc_MuckForever 2.845 1.1752 0.05450 0.10682
5 Perc_MuckNaturalSaginaw Bay 2.232 1.1667 0.05434 0.10651#plot
ggplot(data=percSummary, aes(x=topic, y=mean)) +
geom_bar(stat="identity", position=position_dodge()) +
geom_errorbar(aes(ymin=mean-ci, ymax=mean+ci), width=0.2,position=position_dodge(.9)) +
geom_hline(yintercept=3, color="red") +
#guides(fill=F) +
theme(axis.text.x = element_text(angle = 90, hjust = 1)) +
xlab("Topic") + ylab("Rating") +
ggtitle("Perception of issues")
#Factor Analysis
corrgram(perc, order=T, upper.panel=panel.pie, diag.panel=panel.minmax, lower.panel=panel.pie, main="Correlations between variables")
# http://www.statmethods.net/advstats/factor.html
set.seed(100)
plot(princomp(perc[complete.cases(perc),]),type="l")
# Varimax Rotated Principal Components
fit <- principal(perc, nfactors=3, rotate="varimax", scores=T)
print(fit$loadings, cutoff=0.45, sort=T)
Loadings:
RC1 RC3 RC2
Perc_MuckSeriousProblemBCSRA 0.674
Perc_RightToCleanBeachBCSRA 0.733
Perc_CleanBeachMoreUseBCSRA 0.779
Perc_CleanBeachRevitalizeEcon 0.746
Perc_MuckAlwaysProblemSagBay 0.646
Perc_MuckNaturalSaginaw Bay 0.698
Perc_MuckForever 0.593
Perc_CleanBeforeAndAgainBCSRA -0.677
Perc_CleaningMuckExpensive 0.552
Perc_MoreResearch 0.699
Perc_MuckChangePastFuture 0.703
Perc_PersonalConnectionBCSRA
Perc_MuckIncrease
Perc_CleaningMuckLongEffort
Perc_RemoveWetlandsBCSRA
RC1 RC3 RC2
SS loadings 2.945 2.029 1.788
Proportion Var 0.196 0.135 0.119
Cumulative Var 0.196 0.332 0.4519 Causes (NQ9)
Please rate each of the following for:
A. How much you think each causes beach muck; AND B. How much agencies, such as the DNR and DEQ, think each causes beach muck?
- 1 = not at all
- 2 = slightly
- 3 = somewhat
- 4 = a lot
- 5 = extremely
X (6) = don’t know
Note: “Don’t knows”" are lumped together with blanks- Fertilizer runoff from farming operations (1)
- Water pollution (2)
- Invasive mussels (3)
- Lower water levels in Saginaw Bay (4)
- Increased water clarity (5)
- Wind and wave action (6)
- Natural processes (7)
- Leaking septic systems (8)
- Increased water temperature (9)
- Wastewater treatment failures/ sewage overflows (10)
- Climate change (11)
- Increased phosphorus levels (12)
- Fertilizer runoff from residential areas/businesses (13)
- Algae and aquatic plant growth (14)
Increased nitrogen levels (15)
There are two factors: 1) humans causes / inputs 2) system dynamics / natural
1 2 3 4 5 6 <NA>
CausesC_FertilizerRunoffFarming 19 34 87 114 119 61 111
CausesC_WaterPollution 20 39 87 118 120 45 116
CausesC_InvasiveMussels 68 60 81 72 84 63 117
CausesC_LowerWaterLevels 39 63 95 94 93 46 115
CausesC_WaterClarity 102 58 73 68 47 76 121
CausesC_WindWaveAction 76 86 84 65 56 62 116
CausesC_NaturalProcesses 52 72 115 87 51 49 119
CausesC_LeakingSeptic 47 58 98 69 79 78 116
CausesC_WaterTemp 57 63 111 75 61 58 120
CausesC_Sewage 18 42 60 91 151 70 113
CausesC_ClimateChange 121 74 88 61 29 55 117
CausesC_Phosphorus 19 33 82 95 110 89 117
CausesC_FertilizerRunoffResidential 33 53 85 89 106 63 116
CausesC_Algae 11 25 69 93 161 69 117
CausesC_Nitrogen 16 29 78 98 93 112 119
CausesA_FertilizerRunoffFarming 11 17 49 66 107 110 185
CausesA_WaterPollution 16 19 48 78 84 111 189
CausesA_InvasiveMussels 27 25 56 65 60 122 190
CausesA_LowerWaterLevels 17 28 57 59 72 123 189
CausesA_WaterClarity 36 34 50 52 48 136 189
CausesA_WindWaveAction 32 44 56 47 46 130 190
CausesA_NaturalProcesses 20 21 47 57 83 128 189
CausesA_LeakingSeptic 15 24 70 54 63 128 191
CausesA_WaterTemp 17 18 70 52 64 133 191
CausesA_Sewage 20 30 46 57 80 123 189
CausesA_ClimateChange 28 22 55 51 61 139 189
CausesA_Phosphorus 11 12 40 60 106 122 194
CausesA_FertilizerRunoffResidential 13 21 43 62 103 115 188
CausesA_Algae 13 14 38 68 103 116 193
CausesA_Nitrogen 14 9 43 68 84 134 193 CausesC_WaterPollution CausesC_LowerWaterLevels
45 46
CausesC_NaturalProcesses CausesC_ClimateChange
49 55
CausesC_WaterTemp CausesC_FertilizerRunoffFarming
58 61
CausesC_WindWaveAction CausesC_InvasiveMussels
62 63
CausesC_FertilizerRunoffResidential CausesC_Algae
63 69
CausesC_Sewage CausesC_WaterClarity
70 76
CausesC_LeakingSeptic CausesC_Phosphorus
78 89
CausesA_FertilizerRunoffFarming CausesA_WaterPollution
110 111
CausesC_Nitrogen CausesA_FertilizerRunoffResidential
112 115
CausesA_Algae CausesA_InvasiveMussels
116 122
CausesA_Phosphorus CausesA_LowerWaterLevels
122 123
CausesA_Sewage CausesA_NaturalProcesses
123 128
CausesA_LeakingSeptic CausesA_WindWaveAction
128 130
CausesA_WaterTemp CausesA_Nitrogen
133 134
CausesA_WaterClarity CausesA_ClimateChange
136 139 topic perspective mean sd se
1 Algae Agencies (others) 3.992 1.156 0.07524
2 ClimateChange Agencies (others) 3.438 1.339 0.09091
3 FertilizerRunoffFarming Agencies (others) 3.964 1.138 0.07200
4 FertilizerRunoffResidential Agencies (others) 3.913 1.197 0.07693
5 InvasiveMussels Agencies (others) 3.455 1.296 0.08492
6 LeakingSeptic Agencies (others) 3.558 1.192 0.07930
7 LowerWaterLevels Agencies (others) 3.605 1.242 0.08134
8 NaturalProcesses Agencies (others) 3.711 1.285 0.08511
9 Nitrogen Agencies (others) 3.913 1.151 0.07794
10 Phosphorus Agencies (others) 4.039 1.133 0.07487
11 Sewage Agencies (others) 3.631 1.304 0.08540
12 WaterClarity Agencies (others) 3.191 1.375 0.09270
13 WaterPollution Agencies (others) 3.796 1.184 0.07561
14 WaterTemp Agencies (others) 3.579 1.206 0.08111
15 WindWaveAction Agencies (others) 3.138 1.334 0.08895
16 Algae Citizens (self) 4.025 1.094 0.05776
17 ClimateChange Citizens (self) 2.472 1.302 0.06743
18 FertilizerRunoffFarming Citizens (self) 3.751 1.147 0.05941
19 FertilizerRunoffResidential Citizens (self) 3.497 1.290 0.06743
20 InvasiveMussels Citizens (self) 3.121 1.421 0.07436
21 LeakingSeptic Citizens (self) 3.214 1.326 0.07075
22 LowerWaterLevels Citizens (self) 3.362 1.287 0.06569
23 NaturalProcesses Citizens (self) 3.034 1.232 0.06344
24 Nitrogen Citizens (self) 3.710 1.137 0.06416
25 Phosphorus Citizens (self) 3.720 1.177 0.06394
26 Sewage Citizens (self) 3.870 1.217 0.06398
27 WaterClarity Citizens (self) 2.713 1.413 0.07577
28 WaterPollution Citizens (self) 3.727 1.159 0.05913
29 WaterTemp Citizens (self) 3.054 1.290 0.06733
30 WindWaveAction Citizens (self) 2.834 1.352 0.07057
ci
1 0.1475
2 0.1782
3 0.1411
4 0.1508
5 0.1664
6 0.1554
7 0.1594
8 0.1668
9 0.1528
10 0.1467
11 0.1674
12 0.1817
13 0.1482
14 0.1590
15 0.1743
16 0.1132
17 0.1322
18 0.1165
19 0.1322
20 0.1458
21 0.1387
22 0.1288
23 0.1243
24 0.1258
25 0.1253
26 0.1254
27 0.1485
28 0.1159
29 0.1320
30 0.1383
[1] "lacf of enforcement at sources..agriculture, drains"
[2] "I feel that the above listed factors encompass the causes of beach muck as far as I understand it."
[3] "Allowing phragmites and other plants to grow wild contribute to this problem. Removing phragmites prevents more decomposition of plants which adds to the muck. The muck increased significantly when the DNR/DEQ/Army Corps of Engineers decided that beach grooming was no longer allowed."
[4] "simple input/output process. water levels cycle impact the amount of nutrients per unit of water."
[5] "Run off from the watershed is filled with farm nutrients that propagate weed and algae growth, combined with wastewater treatment overflows that are routine our shoreline is violated with other peoples junk every time it rains heavy. "
[6] " / Algae blooms and decay, water clarity causes light to get to the bottom of the bay and helps algae growth."
[7] "The location of the beach front with respect to the Saginaw River and other tributaries, the depth of the Bay. prevailing currents -- human activity in the past and to a certain extent now plays a role, but in general the accumulation is most likely a natural process aggravated by nutrients that are the result of human activity within the Saginaw Bay/River region. Invasive species (exotic mussels) may be playing as of yet undetermined role and may slowly progressing global climate changes that may be encouraging more productive algal and aquatic weed growth. "
[8] "Phragmities that is taken out in the lake by storms, rots and then mixes with other vegetation and then comes ashore."
[9] "The continual restudying beach muck is a front to fool people into thinking somebody will eventually remove it. Irrespective of what causes it, it can be remover effectively by proven processes, which the agencies and the studiers continually deny. I'd rather have the money for your study go to mechanically removing the muck. I hope you get well paid for your charade."
[10] "spoils island at the mouth of the Saginaw River, may be slowing down the long shore currents, resulting in deposition of dead algae on the shores of the park"
[11] "FARM LAND CHEMICALS"
[12] "Sludge Island changing water currents /"
[13] "Court cases have shown that there should be .9 of a mile of beach. In the 1950's the water flow was changed to interrupt the flow of water through the Marsh and the muck began. Florida and After the BP oil spill millions were spent on beach replenishment. How about some equal time."
[14] "The increase of unnecessary wetlands that die in the fall. The gales of November wash them into the Bay where they decompose robbing the Bay of oxygen. The by product of this process washes up on the beaches of Saginaw Bay."
[15] "Contours of the beach; flow of water; how it is trapped in certain areas."
[16] "people pollution"
[17] "The \"Island\" built to put dredging from the Saginaw River on, has changed water and wave patterns over the years."
[18] "I have no idea what the DNR and DEQ think"
[19] "increased number of dairy farms in the area and run off from improper storm drains/overflow from waste water treatment at the dairy farms"
[20] "The island just east of the Saginaw river mouth breaks the natural flow that was consistent in years past. Also the hot pond run off from Consumers at the mouth of the river east of the channel."
[21] "50 years of neglect by state park staff. no equiptment to go into water and remove vegetation and remove it like they do at cedar point. need to bring in the national guard and remove the muck and restore the shore / to the way it was in the 50's when thousands of people used the park"
[22] "Algeal blooms whose growth is spurred by increased water clarity caused by zebra mussels which creates mats of decaying algae which make an excellent host for E.coli which originates in sewage overflows, faulty septic systems and farm run-off eventually washing up on the beach at the State park as part of the littoral flow in the Saginaw Bay."
[23] "Trash island."
[24] "Saginaw Bay flows counter clockwise. The expansions of the power plant into the bay and the continued development and use of the spoil island has greatly impacted the water flow and this reduced flow prevents suspended particles from naturally flowing out of the lower bay. The altering of the shoreline and development have changed the natural contour and flow."
[25] "Buy not trying to keep it clean. ARMY CORP OF ENGINEERS need to let us do what we can do. Let us clean the beach and give us another 200 ft. of beach with easy access. What a boom this would be to our local economy."
[26] "when the spoils island was put in at the mouth of the Saginaw river, it changed the flow of water in and out of the river; sewage overflows coming out are washed over to the recreation area creating an incubator effect for muck. also DNR policy of no beach grooming for homeowners who live on beachfront property. "
[27] "Not sure how much the wastewater treatment/sewage overflows play a roll in beach muck but they need to be stopped in order to clear the water of things like ecoli. It amazing that if a single person were to pipe their sewage to the water the governement would be all over them with fines and cleanup but municipalities can dump millions of gallons of waste in repeated incidences and we as residents just are expected to accept it. So not right!!!"
[28] "man made islands offshore"
[29] "Location, location, location. I'm not sure, but I have heard that it has something to do with proximity to the mouth of the river, and where fast flowing water begins to slow and settle. The bay is beautiful, and \"boaters beach\" is a relatively clean area to swim just off shore. It's the five feet on shore and the 5-10 feet into the water that is just gross."
[30] "way too many phragmites!!"
[31] "The water flow has been interrupted for years due to the man-made island that was created during dredging near the mouth of the bay. I think this has a lot to do with the conditions. Back in the 70's the beach was great. I live across from the bay now and am very disappointed by the conditions of the beach."
[32] "not being allowed to groom the beaches over the last decade has caused tall grasses to grow to the waters edge, trapping more san in rocky areas, causing peninsulas of land to form that trap the muck and prevent it from moving freely in and out with wave action"
[33] "I don't know, but I am at the beach weekly. It's sad to have a beach of weeds, pickers, debris, muck so nasty that I can't wash it off my dog. I'm ashamed when I hear people from other areas comment how dirty our beach front is. The grass isn't cut, weeds out of control...it certainly has a negative impact on our economy."
[34] "The attempt by the State to turn this area into a wetland resulting in no clean up work being attempted. All one needs to do---look at private beaches near the State Park---look at the parks in Tawas, Caseville, Traverse City, etc-----beautiful parks being used---helping the local economy. We can do better---Bay City State Park should be a beach and not a wetland."
[35] "local industry"
[36] "Zebra Mussels, Natural Bay Growth, Polution and Run off into the Bay."
[37] "The EPA and DNR will not allow the beach area to be cleaned up from the weeds growing in the area of the beach. This beach use to be clean along the complete state park area and was filled with beach goers until the DNR and the EPA said \"Do not remove the natural vegitative growth\". No look at our beach."
[38] "Even after studying the causes of beach muck, there is no plan to improve the quality of the water flowing into the bay. Not only is there no plan, there doesn't seem to be a plan to make a plan. / In the time it has taken to study the cause the beaches from Tawas to Bay City and on to Port Austin have changed dramatically."
[39] "farm land that is tiled and over fertilized causes extreme amounts of phosphorus and other contaminants. I have personally seen cow manure running down the pinnebog river. I am sure that is from a broken septic tank some where, it couldn't possibly be from a farm. "
[40] "I believe a significant amount occurs as a result of wastewater treatment overflows."
[41] "Muck has increased as the number of concentrated animal farming operations in Michigan's thumb region has increased. These operations have frequent \"accidental\" waste dumps into local rivers which flow directly into Saginaw Bay. Within days of these dumps, the muck levels drastically increase. This is no coincidence. Local residents, elected officials, and the news media have decided that not publicly discussing the problem will harm the local economy. The CAFO operators are holding the region hostage. Local residents and officials, as well as state regulators, need to turn the tables and hold the CAFOs accountable and make sure they are following the law."
[42] "THE MAIN PROBLEM IS THE CONSTRUCTION OF SLUDGE ISLAND BUILT MANY YEARS AGO WHICH BLOCKE THE NATURAL FLOW OF THE SAGINAW RIVER CAUSING SLUDGE AND POLUTANTS FROM THE RIVER TO SETTLE AT THE BOTOM OF SAGINAW BAY, MY OPINION."
[43] "Dow"
[44] "Lack of action and PR by the state and press"
[45] "Not being able to groom"
[46] "Man made island at the mouth of the river. Before the island was in place the muck was not that bad at the state park."
[47] "The Island at the mouth of the Saginaw River, has caused the flow of the Bay to change, stopping normal wave action. Remove it."
[48] "no comment"
[49] "a change in the natural flow of the bay ever since the construction of dredge island in the 70's"
[50] "Fertilizer runoff, building an island that stopped the natural flow of the saginaw bay, septic issues, sewage overflows, illegal runoff dumping, "
[51] "not doing anything about it. a lot of money has been paid for studies. no money has been spent to correct the problem. people are getting rich taking the money and spending it on everything but what it was intended for. How many studies and how much money do you think is spent so far (last 40 years) on the studies? And still nothing put towards the clean up. hmmmmmm. DEQ steals land they lie at every chance they get and get paid very well to do it. Deq / DNR are a sick expense to the people that they are supose to protect."
[52] "The man made island caused the natural flow of water"
[53] "Pollutants: industrial & residential; wastewater discharges; fertilizers & agricultural land uses; erosion/sediment load"
[54] "Dying vegetation."
[55] "I really don't know for sure,but we had clean beaches when I was a kid,so backtrack and see what was built over the years to make this change to muck."
[56] "Foreign substance brought in from freighters. Lack of knowledge and preventive action increased the let problem go of of control"
[57] "island built at mouth of sag river disrupts natural scourering of that area of the shoreline causeing outher circumstanses to have excessive results"
[58] "Bay City, sewage overflows, fertilizer runoff from farms, aquatic birds and Zebra mussels."
[59] "When the cattails and other grasses die during the winter and come into the shore in the spring if it's not cleaned up it will turn to muck. i have always cleaned up the debris in the spring and have no muck on my beach."
[60] "goose and other bird droppings. farmland runoff"
[61] "?"
[62] "Phragmites retain muck and collect muck"
[63] "A lack of water circulation due to low water and possible weed blockage at the shore line."
[64] "decline of cattail and other natural aquatic plants, and the increase of fragmitties plants."
[65] "Reeds and plants up current in cities north of bay city that end up accumulating here."
[66] "run off from local dairy farms and animal manure application in farm fields"
[67] "Placement of dredge material on island by mouth of saginaw river changed natural flow of water"
[68] "Reed growth from the White 's beach area. /"
[69] "Possibly, attempts to change \"water's edge\" architecture to divert muck buildup."
[70] "This may be a faulty study. How would I know what the agencies THINK re: these specifics?!"
[71] "Spoils Island at the mouth of the Saginaw River, changing Northeast wind / wave action and natural cleaning of the shoreline. "
[72] "Lack of governmental attention to the problem. This is NOT natural!!! We need to address it and allow people to clean the beaches. As a kid, we went to the park all the time. In the last few years, I'd hesitate to take my dog there...unless it's improved recently. We need to quit dumping raw sewage!!! Fine Saginaw and Bay City!!! And then there are high bacterial counts in the water!!! DAH!"
[73] "decaying plant life and currants of the bay shore."
[74] "I lived on the shore between the rivers for 2 years. Owners are not allowed to groom their beaches or maintain them in any way. This allows vegetation to grow in the low water areas and does not allow for sufficient circulation of the water."
[75] "The bay is a big swamp. Its naturally occurring but a clean up solution needs to be found."
[76] "it would seem the water direction would have something to do with it, water comes in from the Bay, but I don't know if there is an outlet to let it move out"
[77] "boats gasoline/fish(dead)manmade beach front materials(shoring)dead plants(seaweed/algae)"
[78] "Possibly the enlargement of Gull Island cutting off the scouring action or flow of water past the Rec. Area fron East to West."
[79] "The removal of the prior water planet concrete wall. Since it's removal the muck came."
[80] "Polution"
[81] "the dumping to the island created outside the mouth of the river. Water cannot circulate properly."
[82] "Pollution"
[83] "People not cleaning beaches of weeds near the water. / / / /"
[84] "I grew up near Harbor Beach - frequently going to the beach their and in Caseville, etc. These problems don't seem to exist as bad however we were just in Harbor Beach over the weekend and my husband observed muck saying, \"Not nearly as bad as State Park.\" The Thumb - aka Huron County has been mostly farmland/farms for ages. Including the Harbor Beach and Caseville areas. I find it hard to believe it's the \"farmers\" fault entirely."
[85] "Lack of water flow across the beach (not a strong current in any direction) - stagnant water."
[86] "Majority from sewage plant overflows. Also farm runoff."
[87] "My guess is that it has something to do with fertilizer run off, the over flows from the water treatment plant and the impact of Karn-Weadock power plant. "
[88] "Spoils Island at the mouth of the Saginaw River interferes w/natural flowage of the Bay's currents, because there never was an above-water island there until it was built above the water line"
[89] "Dredging or anything that reduces OR increases natural water flow and especially plant growth nearby that causes water stagnation. I've seen many of our other lakes especially clear water lakes become murky in proportion to the number of cottages and homes around them. Torch lake comes to mind."
[90] "years ago i talked to and old fisherman he said that when they put the island at the mouth of the saginaw river they disrupted the natural flow of the river.created a eddy on the southwest bay."
[91] "I feel that the growth of the island at the mouth of the Saginaw River has altered the natural shoreline currents so the muck cannot be washed away into a larger body of water. When viewed from a plane, the circular motion is easily seen within the bay with very little escaping to Lake Huron."
[92] "Changes in currents in the bay along with man made obstructions in the water."
[93] "The more tiled farms with animals, the more runoff into the bay."
[94] "Lack of daily removal and beach grading of the entire park beachfront"
[95] "Agency neglect and a failure to control invasive weeds. Too much land set aside as un touchable habitat from 35-60 years ago."
[96] "I really have no idea what might cause the muck, but everytime there is a heavy rain Saginaw dumps partially treated sewage in the river. I am pretty sure that doesn't help the water quality at all."
[97] "The DNR and DEQ do nothing about this, therefore I can only assume they know nothing. Saginaw is allowed to have partially treated sewage overflow into the rivers, Farmers phos level are high"
[98] "Because Bay city is at the lower end of the bay we don't get enough wave action to move decaying vegetation around. I believe it just accumulates, decays and breaks down into muck on the shoreline."
[99] "Seaweed"
[100] "Cities choice to leave land \"as is\""
[101] "Having built the island has in my opinion caused the water to not being able to flow naturally and it has caused the current to turn it into an unnatural habitat thin which it should have never happened"
[102] "People not cleaning up after themselves."
[103] "The shape of the bay and predominant wind direction."
[104] "In the ten years I've lived here, there seems to be a direct correlation between the amount of muck and the water levels. When the water is higher, the muck is less. I've seen many reports that show the increased depth of the St. Clair river to be a significant cause of the lower water levels in Lakes Michigan/Huron."
[105] "past lumber operations and waste effluent"
[106] "Only know that I swam for years growing up..also in the lagoon...there was plant growth back in the 1940's. but no muck..we had wind and waves and different temps..but no muck...the water was clear..I swallowed a lot of that water and didn't get sick...I also swam in the kawkawlin river..however I didn't touch the bottom because it wasn't hard sand...a little mucky...septic or sewage runoff maybe? Maybe a combination of this along with the plant life affecting the state park water?"
[107] "the island that the drq made for the dredging of the river impedes the natural flow of the bay."
[108] "Faster growth of vegetation caused by runoff from fertilizer and the discharge of raw sewage which ultimately fertilizes and increases the amount of weeds. Then the fluctuating water levels cover the weeds and they rot from standing in the water. Along with the idiotic action of the DEQ to SAVE the WILDLIFE HABITAT which DIDN'T EVEN EXIST on the clean, much used beaches, prior to their involvement."
[109] "Low water level"
[110] "Change in current. Beach obstruction. Get the bay to flow on shore line"
[111] "Farm run off and sewage treatment plants are the main contributors and changes need to be made."
[112] "Ever since the dredge island was constructed at the mouth of the Saginaw River the muck has gotten worse leading me to believe that the island is diverting the solids in the river over in to the bay and to the Bay City State Recreation area."
[113] "The primary source of the excessive nutrients that cause this muck is the combined sewer overflows from Flint, Saginaw, Midland, Bay City and Shiawassee County, which REGULARLY and chronically flow into the Saginaw Bay."
[114] "Saginaw"
[115] "when they stopped grooming the whole beach and wanted it to go back to plant life"
[116] "Spoil Island, @ the mouth of the Saginaw River"
[117] "I really don't know"
[118] "Location of island to house dredging material from Saginaw River most likely caused the natural flow of the water from the Saginaw"
[119] "The consumers power plant if the water they are putting back is not the same temperature as the lake and river water ( I.e hot ponds)."
[120] "i have no idea what causes the muck and I'm not sure anyone else does either. If agencies DO know why aren't they (or ARE they?) going after the problem. If it's natural causes and climate then I guess we're stuck with the situation. I just don't know. Is it ALL of the above?"
[121] "Karn plant at mouth of Bay"
[122] "Muck is simply bio degradable matter, lack of oxygen in the water to oxidize the bio degradable materials and lack of water flow (stagnation) in the Saginaw Bay basin is the primary cause of the water not being cleaned up and the subsequent formation of muck. This is exacerbated by the influence of much larger quantities of nutrients coming into the water from farm fields as well as other sources due to population growth. I'm 67 now and when I was a child we went to the beach at Bay City State Park regularly, there was very little muck, mostly nice sandy beach. This suggests that the process of formation of the majority of muck is not natural, but mostly manmade. However, the conditions causing the formation may not be avoidable based on the added population of the area. Therefore, nature may need some assistance in keeping it clean. I think this is possible with deployment of recirculating systems as well as the addition of oxygen (and possibly some minor amounts of ozone) as necessary. Eliminating Stagnation and homogenizing the water, both physically and thermally will produce significant results. Systems to do this in large lakes have been employed in other parts of the world very successfully. These systems are reasonably priced from a capitol investment perspective (compared to alternate methods of clean up) and also reasonably cost effective form an operational and maintenance perspective. Japan has employed over 600 systems in various lakes, and reservoirs to help clean up their waters and have been very successful in reducing muck as well as cyanobacteria (blue green algae). The United States and particularly Michigan would be well served to investigate some of these systems for cleaning up the Saginaw Bay as well as other areas of the Great Lakes, such as lower Lake Erie. "
[123] "Water flowing into the Bay to soon, not enough time for nature to cleanit."
[124] "I believe it is a combination of factors. Too many nutrients flowing into the system play a big role and one that we may be able to reduce the most. Temperature, clarity, water levels cannot be controlled as easily."
[125] "The man made island covered in bird poop near the Consumers Power plant disrupts the flow of water near the bay."
[126] "The flow and direction of the Saginaw River"
[127] "The change in the flow of current when Gull Island was established."
[128] "The dredge deposit island blocking the natural flow of clean water currents"
[129] "The lack of current flow because of the placement of the Channel Island at the mouth of the Saginaw River, dredging between the island and the shore line may increase flow, natural muck fill on the rivers, I live on the Kawkawlin river we have 3 ft muck on bottom between hard bottom, "
[130] "Invasive species of plants"
[131] "From years ago when the island was put in out in the bay. And waste discharging."
[132] "I am not a huge supporter of the pollution arguement. The Saginaw River and the Saginaw Bay, both, have decreased in pollution levels over the last 30 years. A time that the beach was clean and packed with people, bringing in a ton of money for our community. Why would less pollution cause more muck if this is the case?"
[133] "I personally believe that when \"spoils island\" was added to the mouth of the Saginaw River that it created an unnatural water flow and doesn't allow natural wave action."
[134] "Changes in current flow in the Bay effected by river flow, wind and water temp."
[135] "Not sure! Gull island, changed the water flow !" 
Loadings:
RC1 RC2
CausesC_FertilizerRunoffFarming 0.724
CausesC_WaterPollution 0.624
CausesC_LeakingSeptic 0.648
CausesC_Sewage 0.554
CausesC_Phosphorus 0.781
CausesC_FertilizerRunoffResidential 0.791
CausesC_Nitrogen 0.685
CausesC_InvasiveMussels 0.542
CausesC_LowerWaterLevels 0.726
CausesC_WaterClarity 0.657
CausesC_WindWaveAction 0.744
CausesC_NaturalProcesses 0.710
CausesC_WaterTemp 0.630
CausesC_ClimateChange 0.562
CausesC_Algae
RC1 RC2
SS loadings 3.973 3.349
Proportion Var 0.265 0.223
Cumulative Var 0.265 0.488
Loadings:
RC1 RC2
CausesA_FertilizerRunoffFarming 0.768
CausesA_WaterPollution 0.670
CausesA_LeakingSeptic 0.734
CausesA_Sewage 0.737
CausesA_Phosphorus 0.820
CausesA_FertilizerRunoffResidential 0.850
CausesA_Algae 0.531 0.527
CausesA_Nitrogen 0.686
CausesA_InvasiveMussels 0.672
CausesA_LowerWaterLevels 0.775
CausesA_WaterClarity 0.754
CausesA_WindWaveAction 0.799
CausesA_NaturalProcesses 0.778
CausesA_WaterTemp 0.461 0.705
CausesA_ClimateChange 0.683
RC1 RC2
SS loadings 5.200 5.049
Proportion Var 0.347 0.337
Cumulative Var 0.347 0.68310 Outcomes (NQ10)
Below is a list of outcomes that may be associated with beach muck. Please rate each in terms of: A. How much it concerns you; AND B. How much it concerns agencies, such as the DNR and DEQ?
- 1 = not at all
- 2 = slightly
- 3 = somewhat
- 4 = a lot
- 5 = extremely
X = don’t know Note: “Don’t knows”" are lumped together with blanks
- Health risks (1)
- Negative impacts on wildlife (2)
- Lower quality of life (3)
- Lower rates of park attendance (4)
- Bad odor/smell (5)
- Reduced tourism (6)
- Less enjoyment of the Bay City State Rec Area (7)
- Reduced economic activity in Bay City (8)
Less attractive beach (9)
1 2 3 4 5 6 <NA>
OutcomesC_HealthRisks 7 22 57 75 259 10 115
OutcomesC_ImpactsWildlife 17 40 88 100 164 18 118
OutcomesC_LowerQualLife 9 18 55 87 239 20 117
OutcomesC_LowerParkAttendance 6 10 41 60 285 25 118
OutcomesC_BadSmell 6 5 25 55 314 24 116
OutcomesC_ReducedTourism 6 17 24 66 285 32 115
OutcomesC_LessEnjoymentBCSRA 3 4 17 58 313 32 118
OutcomesC_ReducedEcon 6 20 35 78 258 30 118
OutcomesC_UglierBeach 3 3 13 42 330 37 117
OutcomesA_HealthRisks 31 51 82 58 92 57 174
OutcomesA_ImpactsWildlife 29 39 55 60 129 58 175
OutcomesA_LowerQualLife 71 68 95 33 49 54 175
OutcomesA_LowerParkAttendance 74 55 67 48 74 52 175
OutcomesA_BadSmell 77 56 80 54 53 50 175
OutcomesA_ReducedTourism 77 60 73 51 59 51 174
OutcomesA_LessEnjoymentBCSRA 71 70 72 39 66 52 175
OutcomesA_ReducedEcon 74 69 77 36 59 55 175
OutcomesA_UglierBeach 95 58 72 38 59 49 174 OutcomesC_HealthRisks OutcomesC_ImpactsWildlife
10 18
OutcomesC_LowerQualLife OutcomesC_BadSmell
20 24
OutcomesC_LowerParkAttendance OutcomesC_ReducedEcon
25 30
OutcomesC_ReducedTourism OutcomesC_LessEnjoymentBCSRA
32 32
OutcomesC_UglierBeach OutcomesA_UglierBeach
37 49
OutcomesA_BadSmell OutcomesA_ReducedTourism
50 51
OutcomesA_LowerParkAttendance OutcomesA_LessEnjoymentBCSRA
52 52
OutcomesA_LowerQualLife OutcomesA_ReducedEcon
54 55
OutcomesA_HealthRisks OutcomesA_ImpactsWildlife
57 58 topic perspective mean sd se ci
1 BadSmell Agencies (others) 2.844 1.3966 0.07807 0.15302
2 HealthRisks Agencies (others) 3.411 1.3232 0.07467 0.14636
3 ImpactsWildlife Agencies (others) 3.708 1.3591 0.07694 0.15081
4 LessEnjoymentBCSRA Agencies (others) 2.871 1.4338 0.08041 0.15759
5 LowerParkAttendance Agencies (others) 2.978 1.4805 0.08302 0.16273
6 LowerQualLife Agencies (others) 2.750 1.3348 0.07509 0.14718
7 ReducedEcon Agencies (others) 2.800 1.4102 0.07945 0.15573
8 ReducedTourism Agencies (others) 2.859 1.4260 0.07972 0.15624
9 UglierBeach Agencies (others) 2.714 1.4616 0.08145 0.15964
10 BadSmell Citizens (self) 4.644 0.7784 0.03868 0.07581
11 HealthRisks Citizens (self) 4.326 1.0039 0.04899 0.09602
12 ImpactsWildlife Citizens (self) 3.866 1.1690 0.05781 0.11330
13 LessEnjoymentBCSRA Citizens (self) 4.706 0.6682 0.03362 0.06590
14 LowerParkAttendance Citizens (self) 4.512 0.8855 0.04417 0.08656
15 LowerQualLife Citizens (self) 4.297 1.0050 0.04976 0.09752
16 ReducedEcon Citizens (self) 4.416 0.9514 0.04775 0.09359
17 ReducedTourism Citizens (self) 4.525 0.8996 0.04509 0.08838
18 UglierBeach Citizens (self) 4.772 0.6176 0.03123 0.06121
Loadings:
RC1 RC2
OutcomesC_LowerParkAttendance 0.834
OutcomesC_BadSmell 0.648
OutcomesC_ReducedTourism 0.879
OutcomesC_LessEnjoymentBCSRA 0.852
OutcomesC_ReducedEcon 0.831
OutcomesC_UglierBeach 0.815
OutcomesC_HealthRisks 0.815
OutcomesC_ImpactsWildlife 0.821
OutcomesC_LowerQualLife 0.671
RC1 RC2
SS loadings 4.139 1.934
Proportion Var 0.460 0.215
Cumulative Var 0.460 0.675
Loadings:
RC1 RC2
OutcomesA_LowerQualLife 0.695 0.539
OutcomesA_LowerParkAttendance 0.902
OutcomesA_BadSmell 0.852
OutcomesA_ReducedTourism 0.938
OutcomesA_LessEnjoymentBCSRA 0.914
OutcomesA_ReducedEcon 0.916
OutcomesA_UglierBeach 0.918
OutcomesA_HealthRisks 0.801
OutcomesA_ImpactsWildlife 0.924
RC1 RC2
SS loadings 5.609 2.240
Proportion Var 0.623 0.249
Cumulative Var 0.623 0.872 [1] "Misinformation about the source of and solutions to beach muck."
[2] "perpetuation of a negative perception that the Great Lakes are polluted and not suited for human interaction."
[3] "aesthetics may lead to declined land values."
[4] "property values are drastically effected which also corresponds with lower taxable income for the county when compared to the beachfront properties say on Lake Michigan's clean areas. The entire region has lost a great asset by accepting this issue."
[5] "Locals do not come to utilize the beach but other activities. More locals would come if beach muck was controlled."
[6] "E. coli infections"
[7] "There may be opportunities to enhance the upland area of the beach with minimal investment in periodic removal of accumulated vegetative materials in the near shore areas -- similar efforts are common in other places where on-shore debris accumulate at popular beaches."
[8] "keeps people from wanting to come and spend time in this area"
[9] "People disinvesting in the DNR/DEQ as a viable, relevent, meaningful agency. It demonstrates how they are more wedded to their petty little regulations than they are to helping the people."
[10] "the general public getting a negative impression of what the Wetland's Protection Act is being used to protect. They see this very small fragment of beach property being protected by the Wetland's Act and they do not recognize the needs of shoreline wildlife over their own needs for a pleasant beach on the east side of the state near the center of the Saginaw Valley population. It makes them look at it in a very negative way, and I think that this gives the general public a very negative perspective on a much needed and important environmental law. I question whether it is worth all the negative p.r. and rage that it incites. The law has done some really wonderful things, but is this worth the battle?"
[11] "the eutrophic effect reduces oxygen in the Bay having a negative impact on the fish population in Saginaw Bay..Gravel beds that formerly were spawning beds for walleye are covered with this residue..Making them useless to spawning walleye and perch. The reduced number of perch is remarkable."
[12] "Less income for the state agencies. If the BCSRA is not a desirable destination, many will not purchase the State of Michigan Park Passports."
[13] "Again, I have no idea what the agencies \"think\"."
[14] "I got stuck in it once :("
[15] "You certainly would not to wade through it to get to the water to swim. How can they use beach renourishment techniques in Florida and other costal areas and prevent the use of adding sand here. This past winter they add fresh sand to Anna Marie Island Florida and the impact on tourism was incredible."
[16] "Dnr and Deq are helping. Army corp of engineers are ouyr holdup."
[17] "impact of future growth plans on the drawing board; DNR deeming the Bay City State Recreation Area \" not important\" in their decision making regarding this issue!"
[18] "I am afraid to even allow the kids in the water at bay City State Park....we travel to cleaner areas if they are going to be in the water. It is sad especially for folks like me that can remember when it was a nice clean beach that could be enjoyed. I don't want to say the DNR- DEQ don't care but they sure don't do anything about it. This whole let the native plants take over the beach is bull!"
[19] "there has been discussion of a pier at the recreaction area and I feel there is no way this will succeed till the beach is cleaned, the whole shoreline at the state recreation area."
[20] "damage to 20% the worlds fresh water supply"
[21] "Other waterfront communitites in our state promote their cities by selling the beauty of their shoreline and all the activities that encompasses that. It negatively impacts our local businesses because tourists will choose to go elsewhere to enjoy the water and take their money with them."
[22] "It took years for state agencies to admit that E-Coli was a serious problem in sand and shallow water---they used to test only in deeper water---one or two feet. Will they ever admit that turning over the sand, exposes the E-Coli to sunlight and kills it????? The public is at serious risk at public parks."
[23] "The state park is a beautiful county asset until you get to the shoreline. I believe clean sand at shore line and in wading area will trememdously increase family use of state park."
[24] "No one wants to walk through muck, and the old rotting fish can cause bacterial growth causing health issues."
[25] "Release of untreated waste water from all cities upstream of the saginaw river. Lack of removal of vegitation that continually traps the waste along the beach because it cannot be washed thru the vegitation."
[26] "bacteriological contamination."
[27] "Property values will continue to decline, and the area state parks will eventually be forced to close. In addition, fish populations in the bay will decline and become more unhealthy."
[28] "You've covered most. Lack of tourism, local enjoyment of park, and quality of water in lower Saginaw Bay"
[29] "Illness and poor attendance at the park."
[30] "no comment"
[31] "more money to waste and not have to have anyone do anything about it"
[32] "I just know that I would rather drive a couple hours up north then use our state park here in bay city. its a joke."
[33] "The bad quality of the beach and water could cause an carefree attitude throughout the community that could hurt the area with littering garbage."
[34] "who want to go to the beach when theres no acsess to h2o duh"
[35] "Reduced value of lake front property which is a significant source of tax revenue."
[36] "Coal Dust from the Weadock plant, Monitor Sugar pollution from un-burnt materials. The tool & die shop's pollution. Nature's natural rotting materials to."
[37] "Too many large barns with cows and manure."
[38] "?"
[39] "When we had muck and Phragmites at the beach, we discontinued to use our beaches. Now, on sunny weekends most of the ten neighbors and their families enjoy the beach. In fact a neighboring cottage with mucky beach does not sell for now at least 3 years"
[40] "reduced property values, concern that increasing muck concentration will creat more serious consequences to habitat and water quality "
[41] "sickness and reduced use of the beautiful beaches"
[42] "BAY City's greatest resource is the BAY! But our leaders would rather spend money on a statue of Madonna than use that money to clean our beaches. Madonna?? Really?? That's like spending money to put in MORE beach muck."
[43] "How do I know how concerned the agencies are??"
[44] "fertiziler run off; sewage, zebra mussells; lower water levels"
[45] "Beyond the health risks to humans, it is sad when my dog can't even enjoy the water - especially when it is literally in your back yard."
[46] "biting horseflies."
[47] "Negative Image."
[48] "None"
[49] "The whole area is gross and you can see it. Look at the marinas on the river. They all used to full; now who wants to boat in the area? The water/beach are gross and the value is just not there to spend time on the water in the bay area. Take a look at the properties from Pinconning to Au Gres! Those properties are about 1/3 of what they should cost with a nice beach. / / I am surprised the state park has stayed open. I remember that it used to be hard just find a spot on the beach to go swimming. Now if someone asks if we want to stay in the park, we always go someplace else just because of the beach. / / They entire area will only continue to suffer as a gem of an area gets worse of over time. I miss the old bay area and romance of a beautiful beach/water front that is long gone. Like others, I am looking for waterfront property \"elsewhere\". "
[50] "I truly feel that if the muck is gone, the people will come. We live 10 minutes from State Park and I wish we could take our young children there to experience the beach. Instead we sit in the sand for a bit, walk the trails and use the splash park. Very disappointing. The tourist would love it - the campgrounds are right there!"
[51] "Loss of value of homes to the northeast of the park where muck is as bad as along the park shore."
[52] "Poor regional reputation. An embarrassment to our area."
[53] "Provides spectacularly negative notoriety that I've read about in newspapers and magazines, outside of the Bay Area, literally encouraging readers to avoid the area, not-to-mention talking w/others who have been to the area and won't return because of the beach condition."
[54] "Living in Bay City and having no other access to the bay. Plants block the view especially the very tall invasive species. Cleaning up the area may increase access. Recent talk of a fishing pier or other public access. I would gladly pay more money (yearly dues?) for slightly raised parking (above the plants) to view the bay."
[55] "People tend to go other places such as Caseville for their beaches."
[56] "People will simply go somehwere else to spend their money and time. Such a shame when so little change could correct much of the problem"
[57] "I feel its a huge deal- its embarrassing to Bay City. Out of towners who visit wont come back if they go to our Beach. It doesn't affect wildlife it actually probably benefits it. I would hope the agencies realize how big of a deal it is."
[58] "Spending of money to try and solve a problem that has been there for many many years. Too many studies with little or no results. Use of this money could go a long way in many useful ways."
[59] "Look at the satellite pictures for Saginaw Bay. If you are not blind you see where the muck comes from."
[60] "More people moving up north to enjoy water quality"
[61] "The Bay City State Park and Bay City tourism were the most popular in the lower peninsula many years ago, before the water quality problems ruined everything and now no one goes to the park because there is no beach to play on. We strongly believe that all this is attributable to the CSO's from the surrounding watershed cities. "
[62] "less access to the bay when they closed 75% of beach and the turnaround"
[63] "Island in the bay is a problem / Lo / The lack of letting the state park from being total clean by the D&R is a big mistake for both the wildlife and for general pubic"
[64] "Dredging the river and bringing up all the old PCB and DDT's that may be lying on the bottom."
[65] "Future generations never having access yo what was a beautiful place"
[66] "I'd like to think that the concerns of the local population are also the concerns of the DNR/MDEQ. Drinking water quality will be reduced as well as the cost to produce clean drinking water will increase as the contamination problem increases."
[67] "A bad reputation and overall perception of the Great Lakes Bay region."
[68] "It is more than just muck that is a problem in revitalizing the Bay City beachfront for clean waterfront access for a lifetime but muck is a large contributor."
[69] "Less use of boats on the lake and the shift of boaters parking in from of houses instead of the state park"
[70] "Low property values"
[71] "it may spread to deeper areas of water and effect of fishing and other resources water clearity"
[72] "Who allows cat tails to grow and overtake a once beautiful beach?????? Did this help attract tourist to the campground (sarcastic)?"
[73] "A lot of confusion with the public on what causes it, its potential health problem, and why no one seems to be able to solve problem or reduce it. The multi-factor causes are difficult understand by the public to understand including many of thoses that have studied the problem. I believe the public thinks this is the only place that has this problem not realizing Wisconsin and other stated are also scratching their heads over it. "
[74] "It's moving North to tawas, and Caseville"
[75] "I know a lot or people in the area and around the state which comment on the Bay City state park. They hate coming here and usually have negative comments on the condition of the beach and water." 11 Agency Efforts (NQ11)
Please indicate how much you agree with the following statements about the efforts of natural resource management agencies, such as the Michigan DNR and DEQ.
- 1 = strongly disagree
- 2 = disagree
- 3 = not sure
- 4 = agree
- 5 = strongly agree
These agencies…
- …know what is causing beach muck. (1)
- …want to attract more people to the Bay City State Rec Area. (2)
- …are trying to provide the public with useful information about muck. (3)
- …are making a reasonable effort to try and address beach muck. (4)
- …have the right people working on the muck problem. (5)
- …have tried to improve the beachfront at the Bay City State Rec Area. (6)
- …have made improvements to the Bay City State Rec Area overall. (7)
- …understand concerns of the local community. (8)
- …try to actively engage the community about park management issues. (9)
- …communicate effectively with the public. (10)
- …treat community members fairly. (11)
- …know what to do about beach muck. (12)
- …don’t care about the feelings of the community. (13)
- …want to improve the local economy. (14)
- …are not interested in cleaning up beach muck. (15)
efforts = data[,107:121]
freq(efforts) 1 2 3 4 5 <NA>
AEfforts_KnowCause 38 57 143 112 68 127
AEfforts_WantAttractBCSRA 65 82 116 102 49 131
AEfforts_ProvideUsefulInfo 86 105 133 71 21 129
AEfforts_AddressMuck 131 123 112 40 12 127
AEfforts_RightPeople 110 105 166 26 10 128
AEfforts_ImprovedBeachfrontBCSRA 93 128 106 72 13 133
AEfforts_ImprovedBCSRA 58 96 130 109 24 128
AEfforts_UnderstandLocalConcerns 91 122 108 80 14 130
AEfforts_EngageCommunity 83 134 138 51 9 130
AEfforts_CommunicateEffectively 98 159 121 28 11 128
AEfforts_Fair 88 89 173 48 16 131
AEfforts_KnowWhatToDo 127 121 123 28 17 129
AEfforts_NoCareFeelings 63 94 136 71 52 129
AEfforts_ImproveEcon 82 95 135 77 24 132
AEfforts_NotInterestedCleanMuck 59 95 117 77 68 129efforts2 = melt(data,id.vars=1,measure.vars=107:121)
effSummary = aggregate(value~variable,function(x) c(mean(x),sd(x),se(x),ci(x)),data=efforts2)
effSummary = cbind(effSummary,unlist(effSummary[,2]))
effSummary = effSummary[,-2]
names(effSummary) = c("topic","mean","sd","se","ci")
#reorder factor levels
sorted = order(effSummary$mean,decreasing=T)
effSummary$topic = factor(effSummary$topic, levels=levels(effSummary$topic)[sorted])
effSummary[sorted,] topic mean sd se ci
1 AEfforts_KnowCause 3.275 1.1603 0.05675 0.11123
15 AEfforts_NotInterestedCleanMuck 3.000 1.2801 0.06276 0.12301
2 AEfforts_WantAttractBCSRA 2.971 1.2445 0.06116 0.11988
13 AEfforts_NoCareFeelings 2.892 1.2224 0.05993 0.11747
7 AEfforts_ImprovedBCSRA 2.868 1.1242 0.05505 0.10790
14 AEfforts_ImproveEcon 2.676 1.1580 0.05698 0.11169
3 AEfforts_ProvideUsefulInfo 2.606 1.1400 0.05589 0.10955
11 AEfforts_Fair 2.553 1.0672 0.05245 0.10280
8 AEfforts_UnderstandLocalConcerns 2.528 1.1308 0.05551 0.10880
6 AEfforts_ImprovedBeachfrontBCSRA 2.476 1.1148 0.05492 0.10764
9 AEfforts_EngageCommunity 2.443 1.0125 0.04970 0.09742
5 AEfforts_RightPeople 2.331 1.0100 0.04946 0.09694
10 AEfforts_CommunicateEffectively 2.269 0.9805 0.04801 0.09411
12 AEfforts_KnowWhatToDo 2.248 1.0861 0.05325 0.10437
4 AEfforts_AddressMuck 2.232 1.0823 0.05294 0.10376#plot
ggplot(data=effSummary, aes(x=topic, y=mean)) +
geom_bar(stat="identity", position=position_dodge()) +
geom_errorbar(aes(ymin=mean-ci, ymax=mean+ci), width=0.2,position=position_dodge(.9)) +
geom_hline(yintercept=3, color="red") +
#guides(fill=F) +
theme(axis.text.x = element_text(angle = 90, hjust = 1)) +
xlab("Topic") + ylab("Rating") +
ggtitle("Agency effort (Citizen perspective")
#Factor Analysis
corrgram(efforts, order=T, upper.panel=panel.pie, diag.panel=panel.minmax, lower.panel=panel.pie, main="Correlations between variables")
# http://www.statmethods.net/advstats/factor.html
set.seed(100)
plot(princomp(efforts[complete.cases(efforts),]),type="l")
# Varimax Rotated Principal Components
fit <- principal(efforts, nfactors=4, rotate="varimax", scores=T)
print(fit$loadings, cutoff=0.45, sort=T)
Loadings:
RC1 RC4 RC2 RC3
AEfforts_WantAttractBCSRA 0.589
AEfforts_ImprovedBeachfrontBCSRA 0.730
AEfforts_ImprovedBCSRA 0.797
AEfforts_UnderstandLocalConcerns 0.771
AEfforts_EngageCommunity 0.806
AEfforts_CommunicateEffectively 0.757
AEfforts_Fair 0.702
AEfforts_ImproveEcon 0.712
AEfforts_ProvideUsefulInfo 0.493 0.570
AEfforts_AddressMuck 0.519 0.715
AEfforts_RightPeople 0.846
AEfforts_NoCareFeelings 0.854
AEfforts_NotInterestedCleanMuck 0.778
AEfforts_KnowCause 0.886
AEfforts_KnowWhatToDo 0.720
RC1 RC4 RC2 RC3
SS loadings 5.078 2.376 1.603 1.560
Proportion Var 0.339 0.158 0.107 0.104
Cumulative Var 0.339 0.497 0.604 0.708#fit <- principal(efforts[c(1:12,14)], nfactors=4, rotate="varimax", scores=T)
#print(fit$loadings, cutoff=0.45, sort=T)
data$AEfforts_Text[!is.na(data$AEfforts_Text)] [1] "They haven't handled it, they shine it on, pass it along, say it's natural, then its climate change then its something else all the time. They used to clean beach, now they don't even mow the grass."
[2] "None, thanks."
[3] "This is a very difficult challenge. I believe that \"agency\" employees are each working in the direction they believe is the \"right\" direction as they chose to interpret laws and administrative directives. This individualized direction may or may not be the direction that is shared by private sector groups, local government groups, interested environmental groups or the current administration. "
[4] "All talk and no actions. They have been dancing around this issue for the past 15 plus years. Yes,they have had numerous meetings over the years, but they have not resulted in the removal of muck or the overgrown wild areas that have destroyed OUR beach."
[5] "More information on the efforts that have been done in the past regarding beach muck. Also, more information on the practices that can be done possibly in the future. We know it is a complex issue and not any one Best Management Practice is going to solve it. "
[6] "Frankly, the issue has such a high price (socially and financially) tag to address, (fixing the wastewater overflows and curtailing the farm runoff) that I am afraid that the agency's hands are tied without the resources to execute the solutions needed. The agency's should be more open to at least allowing/ encouraging local property owner's/ concerned citizens to at least address the symptoms ie, cleaning up the shoreline mechanically on a regular basis as is done around the world. For example; Siesta Beach in Florida is groomed daily by local government agency's, weeds and wash up are hauled off as part of a maintenance plan , Chicago's beachfront is treated the same way. We need to embrace a maintenance plan that allows and encourages removal of the muck on a regular basis to at least address the symptom which would lead to more use and attraction. "
[7] "Research has been done and continues on causes and affects, but information is not readily available without digging into the websites. "
[8] "Doing better than they were a few years ago."
[9] "If it was an easy problem to address it would have been done along time ago. Basic research is needed to answer questions like, \"has the problem become worse\", if so \"what has changed and what can be done to address these changes?"
[10] "Poorly - they love to see the green phramities flourish in the early 2000 and admonish and threaten beach front property owners for removing them. There is also much evidence that they encouraged their growth and now they get million to try to eradicate the invasive species."
[11] "The agencies have NOT \"handled\" the problem. They have totally dropped the ball, and are now putting more effort into covering their very exposed asses, than doing anything about it."
[12] "I think that each agency the DNR and the DEQ should be looked at seperately. Officials from each one have different missions and outlooks and ideas on how the muck should be managed. To lump them together as in the question above is inappropriate. the DNR does only what the DEQ allows them to do. The DEQ is in charge of making sure the Wetland Protection Act is enforced. The DNR manages with multi-use perspective."
[13] "I would like them to study the farms that are putting tanker loads of poop on the tiled land. I know of a farm putting 42 tanker loads on 40 area field."
[14] "Local agency officials have been very open to working with the community. However, DNR at the state level have not been so open, one official in particular. The state does do a park management plan process, but did not do a very good job of engaging the community or groups interested in economic development or tourism. The focus was primarily on preservation and conservation as opposed to improved recreation. Preservation and conservation are important elements of a strong recreation plan, but so are place making, aesthetic, and programming."
[15] "Have not done enough or been coopporative enough wioth locals who are willing to do something about muck. It has been studied a lot but little real work has been done."
[16] "In the 1990s I was involved with the Friends of the State Park and MUCC. A group of us met with members of DEQ/DNR in Lansing and MUCC members at their headquarters in Lansing..It was obvious that DNR was upset that the highway through the State Park was not going to be closed and if they did not get that they were not going to invest much in the Bay City State Park. I think this bias continues to this day."
[17] "Allowing the SOS to organize and clean the beach somewhat is a step in the right direction. Need more beach access for visitors. Should be able to see the Bay from State Park road would boost attendance."
[18] "The regulatory interference of the DEQ and the Corps of Engineers in terms of people trying to reclaim their beachfront using the \"high water mark\" argument has been a total joke. Claiming that invasive phragmites create a 'natural' wetland is ridiculous. Why a proper beach grooming apparatus has not been manufactured or purchased is criminal."
[19] "I don't think any of these answers relate to the DNR, I think their hands are tied."
[20] "How does it make sense to allow mowing of phragmities and other weeds that grow on the and not allow working the soil by disc or other measures to control the growth of these invasive species. Some of the interpretation of rules by the DEQ are ridiculous."
[21] "I think it is difficult for agencies to respond to and address the problem because there are so many factors that contribute to the muck. It is difficult to decide where to best spend money on research, outreach and effort until we understand more of the causes and contributions to muck."
[22] "Army corp don't really care about our community."
[23] "The Saginaw Bay watershed has huge nature areas for wildlife and habitat; yet all we ever here from DEQ & DNR is \"Can't put a beach there, its habitat area for wildlife!"
[24] "Unfortunately the problem lies in the water which is controlled by the DEQ and Army core of engineers. The muck then washes ashore and the DNR/rec area can only clean up that part per DEQ. As for the wetlands, it to is below the high water mark and controlled by DEQ mostly. "
[25] "As stated previously, just don't see anything being done by governmental angencies to improve the situation. Anything done so far seems to be from citizens groups bothing doing cleaning and raising funds. Agencies like DNR DEQ seem either indifferent or are limited by rules about protecting things that have grown since the beach was allowed to decline. "
[26] "I have an advanced degree in the sciences. Each time I have communicated with the DEQ and DNR I am taken aback by the apathy, lack of desire to take affirmative action towards muck removal, and the short sightedness they demonstrate prohibiting homeowners the opportunity to clean up the beachfront."
[27] " The kid's water park is very nice, the pavillions are great, but they are surrrounded by long grasses, weeds, and access to the water in only a couple of areas. I put my blanket down at the beach and had a blanket full of pickers. Ouch!"
[28] "As I said before---look around at near-by beaches---public and private. Look at states such as Florida---they know how important beaches are to tourism and they MAINTAIN their beachs and the public comes to and enjoy the beaches."
[29] "I really haven't seen much done to correct the problem over the years. There's been talk but that's about all. Some days the information seems to say there's nothing that can be done and other days there is. It's really pretty confusing for the average citizen."
[30] "The DNR/DEQ have not gave consideration to the economic impact this has created. These organizations want to keep the Bay City State Recreation area all natural. We could have a beautiful facility that would promote tourism and help drive the local economy but we have to fight with the DEQ/DNR constantly to make improvements. Too much government is killing this park!"
[31] "While I agree nature is important, agencies are trying to make to beach better for animals than people."
[32] "What good is it to monitor and study if you don't take action. Remove the Vegitation, Remove the muck, place large fines on the cities that do not treat the water (Flint, Saginaw, Midland, Bay etc) and use the fines to pay to clean up the beach."
[33] "I don't think the responsibility for cleaning up the muck should fall completely upon the state agencies. I believe the local agencies have not done enough to improve water quality."
[34] "instead of going to the source of the problem, they seem to want to find things to blame it on that can't be controlled. Alge bloom my ass."
[35] "There appears to be a greater interest in allowing nature to take over, whether invasive or natural, than there is in restoring the beach. "
[36] "They have done nothing. These agencies should be eliminated and their employees terminated. They aren't doing anything except protecting big business, so get rid of them and save the taxpayers money. We don't need to pay bureaucrats to put on a phony act."
[37] "They are trying but the problem is not fixable in my opinion as the natural flow of the Saginaw River has been altered and the expense to correct is probably impossible!"
[38] "I think this should have been solved long ago."
[39] "No movement no improvement"
[40] "various agencies have all thrown around their own take on this issue and the reality of it is that since the various agencies DO NOT have cohesive missions it will inevitably cause problems for resolution of this matter. i'm not sure what it will take to develop a holistic approach to address/resolve the issue. obviously research plays a big role and costs big money. another aspect is the fact that IF what holds up our economy is CAUSING the beach muck it will be even harder to tackle the issues through the big business bureaucracy. the big businesses only seem to care as much as it takes to keep their image looking shiny. so long as that need is met and it looks like they care i don't believe they will truly put forth the effort to change how their business is affecting water and beach health. how can you alter an entire agribusiness to cease using fertilizer when that is the only practice they see as feasible to use? i'm not pointing fingers because i dont have the research to say that fertilizer runoff is the cause of the muck. the point is, IF big business is causing it then there isn't a lick of research from any university that can sway hundreds of farmers or a power plant to change how they run their business in any reasonable amount of time for anyone to feel like progress is being made. I feel like it will take several decades to see progress in the beach muck. I do appreciate the effort that everyone is putting forth. for without these agencies stepping up, larger issues of pollution cannot be addressed. I applaud UofM and MSU and everyone else involved in tackling this beast. thank you. "
[41] "no comment"
[42] "They are very concerned but seem to be at a loss on how to solve this problem ecologically."
[43] "all they do is hinder and concern themselfs with what people do on their own land and not what they were hired to do. That being public trust (pulbic Land). When the do not put foot to shovel it is clear they care not what the outcome is."
[44] "In all probability they know the reasons for the increased muck but they are either unable or unwilling to take the necessary steps to eliminate the muck problem."
[45] "not aggressively enough"
[46] "they have dropped the ball on this for many years.SOS has done more than any gov agency as of date."
[47] "they have not done much and i feel if this was happening in or on a west side of the state beach it wouldve been a priority years ago"
[48] "Appears they know the causes of beach muck but they are unwilling or unable to take the necessary steps to correct the problem."
[49] "Reclaim the low land, using the Dutch system. Bring Sand in every year. Add a another water park. Build giant inground pool."
[50] "They haven't handled it yet."
[51] "No"
[52] "can be clean up, I do buy hand bit it is a lot of work wayne 989 274-8234"
[53] "all the issues have political overtones and the more influencial are in control of the solution process. a complete understanding of the muck evolution and its migration needs to be understood by everyone before a resolution can be accomplished."
[54] "Muck is a part of life here in the bay - and beach front folks should have the right clean and take care of their frontage. The government agencies have allowed these problems to increase and put efforts out there to curtail that effort - saying it was wetlands. They are make work agencies and don't help the system."
[55] "The agencies are not interested in even providing analytical analysis of the muck because this will indicate that it is cause by biological pollution that they can not change."
[56] "I think more needs to be done and its probably a funding issue."
[57] "Need more information about what these agencies are actually doing, besides holding meetings."
[58] "They are more concerned about \"keeping things natural\" than allowing any engagement to clean things up. Maybe higher water levels will help some. Basically, they tell citizens they know what's best so bug off."
[59] "this has been a problem for years and I really do'nt see any improvements."
[60] "We never had a problem until they put the island in. It chained the flow of water in the bay. Thats when the problem with muck started. Remove the island the flow will go back to what it was.The muck will go with it."
[61] "my knowledge of any existing agencies is close to nothing.... I do wish that whoever is involved were more aggressive in their knowldege and actions,,, the beach is so very sad and I stopped going about 4 yrs ago."
[62] "They are stuck appeasing the Public and adhering to their rigid rules and regulations."
[63] "None"
[64] "If cleaning up beach muck was a priority to them...they would have actually, PHYSICALLY, done something by now! All we hear is talk and all we see are studies..."
[65] "It seems like very now and then, some \"agency\" comes in a gives a high school level effort to address the muck issue. They poke at the muck with a stick, take a sample and leave. We never hear anything more about it... / / At one time we even had huge front end loaders at the state park, They helped clean the beach and it looked good for a few weeks. but even one foot off the beach in the water, it was too mucky to swim! So all that money was spent for nothing. That also did nothing for all the properties along the Saginaw bay as well! / / If the Bay area was cleaned up, I would buy waterfront property there tomorrow! "
[66] "More interested in maintaining wetlands that used to be a beach."
[67] "The public & SOS are targeting the wrong folks for the problem, Spoils Island is the responsibility of the US Army Corps/Engineers and the USEPA; remove it (completely) and be amazed by the rapid improvement of the beach conditions."
[68] "They have tried beech grooming but not much else. Study is needed to get at the root of the problems."
[69] "Yes, you ask way too many questions. Bye!"
[70] "The conflict between the several governmental should end."
[71] "none"
[72] "The agencies don't care about providing a decent beach in Bay County. When I was growing up in Bay City, my mom took my brothers and sister to the beach 3 times a week every summer. The water was beautiful and clean. The sand and sand bars were firm. It was great swimming, building sand castles, etc. It all seemed to change in the late 70's when the muck arrived and the Bay City State Park and its beach became a home for wildlife, wetlands, etc. Return the beach to the humans."
[73] "I realize the muck issue is a big deal. I also realize it is a costly issue. I know it is also an endless problem. Wouldn't grasses and bulrushes at the far west ends and east ends help to keep the muck out? Is there a muck eating bacteria that could be used? I know I use that sort of stuff in my one acre pond and it helps. ?? just asking?? I think the beach could be so much better!! I am 50 and don't ever remember that beach being muck free! My god if we could have a Traverse City type beach!! I know part of the problem to is the Saginaw Bay water depth. Traverse City (Lake Michigan) is ten fold deeper. Hense better beach because of movement and temperature. Feel free to e-mail me Michigan_blue_eagle@yahoo.com"
[74] "They don't let is know what's going on with it and they don't do anything to change it."
[75] "The DNR and more so the DEQ are road blocks to many improvements that could be made."
[76] "There were probably be more surveys and studies, but not much else."
[77] "Ran into a DNA agent while at the park..when I mentioned building a pier just to get past the muck, he said there was limited funds"
[78] "If the DEQ were concerned with beach muck they would have been doing something about it already."
[79] "The DNR-DEQ mission statement is one of conservation and protection of this States valuable resources along with finding a good balance with it's uses. However this State park seems somehow to have become hijacked by a chamber of commerce, local and state politicians and home owners on the Bay. The DEQ has lost any effectiveness in the matter except for state held property. What is lost here is this park as with all parks is for EVERYBODY, not a small group looking to build a dock to nowhere to sell small trinkets off it. "
[80] "The wrong agencies are involved, it should at least include the US Army Corps of Engineers and the USEPA, to get rid of Spoils Island, a MAN-MADE entity"
[81] "The D & R need the park to be perfect to help their image instead fight the pubic wishes"
[82] "They only care about wildlife. Not the humans that pay their salaries"
[83] "I think that these agencies want to address the problem and clean it up. I don't think they have the funds or the support to do it. I also don't think they are up to date on the current technologies to address the issues. The money being given to the Universities may not be the best use of the available resources to address the problem, actually I haven’t seen any significant results from these expenditures. I feel that these agencies need to get some industrial folks who have had successes in combating these problems involved. I've spoken to several industrial groups who could address these and other problems with our water ways, and they say they have had little to no success in getting involved unless they associate themselves with a College or University. This is a real shame, because it is an inefficient way of addressing the issues. I have worked for Universities, and have worked on projects funded by the government through Universities, most of the time, the reports that have been produced after the funds are spent simply ask for more revenue to continue to study the problems further, without ever solving them. I think that involving some industrial companies who have a proven track record (and can support this with data from independent sources) to offer solutions to the problem would be a much better way to address the problems. Asking the public for their opinions is a reasonable step forward. Following up on good suggestions from them may get some positive results. "
[84] "They need to consolidate theire efforts."
[85] "It's a complicated problem and a complicated solution will be necessary. There are many facets to the problem and a solution will not be quick and easy. Maybe a quicker, focused solution to a limited swimming/beach area at the park would be a good start coupled with a long term solution for the entire GLB region would be the best solution"
[86] "No action"
[87] "I'm sure cleaning up the beach muck is a huge expense & it always seems to be about the money with agencies. Yes, they understand it's unhealthy. Yes, they understand it's making a negative impact on the wildlife & community. But it always seems in cases like this that despite how \"understanding\" these agencies are, it always comes down to \"we don't have enough funds\". Everyone knows it's a problem but no one is willing to budget for improvements."
[88] "doesn't seem to want to admit that the State Park beach was muck free for a long time. This problem has arisin in the last 30+ years"
[89] "more worried about creating marshes, and protecting wildlife, where wildlife has adopted and nest in my front yard"
[90] "A lot of efforts to clean the beach have been restricted due to State laws. People do not understand that there is a balance between those inities that live in the water and the people that play and live next to the beaches."
[91] "It's farm runoff and the drain commissioner and politicians don't want restrictions on farm fertilizer and the ditch system - which dumps the fertilizer rich runoff quickly into the bay."
[92] "I think the state is more concerned with the beach, which USED to be under water, keeping it protected as a wetland, than adapting and maintaining it now as a useable beach." 12 Management (NQ12)
Please rate the following muck management strategies in terms of the following: A. How effective do you think each would be at managing beach muck; AND B. Given limited agency resources, how practical do you think each would be to implement?
- 1 = not at all
- 2 = slightly
- 3 = somewhat
- 4 = a lot
- 5 = extremely
X = don’t know
- Regular physical removal (i.e., beach grooming) (1)
- Removable barriers to prevent muck accumulation (i.e., nets, booms) (2)
- Permanent barriers to prevent muck accumulation (i.e., rock/concrete seawall) (3)
- Greater regulation of agricultural runoff (4)
- Removal of aquatic plants, algae (5)
- Dredging of swimming areas (6)
- Installation of a pier or boardwalk (7)
- Muck filtering machine (8)
- Floating docks (9)
Relaxed wetland protection regulations (10)
1 2 3 4 5 6 <NA>
MgtEff_Grooming 13 13 59 113 187 16 144
MgtEff_RemovableBarriers 36 48 81 76 99 57 148
MgtEff_PermanentBarriers 60 48 76 61 81 69 150
MgtEff_RegulateAgRunoff 20 38 72 83 149 36 147
MgtEff_RemoveAlgae 32 33 65 82 122 64 147
MgtEff_DredgeSwimmingAreas 43 34 51 76 122 68 151
MgtEff_Pier 94 41 47 52 104 56 151
MgtEff_FilterMachine 29 27 49 64 134 92 150
MgtEff_FloatingDocks 93 58 62 47 60 73 152
MgtEff_RelaxWetlandRegulations 70 28 53 53 124 67 150
MgtPrac_Grooming 20 29 82 83 128 21 182
MgtPrac_RemovableBarriers 46 60 83 53 60 58 185
MgtPrac_PermanentBarriers 82 59 66 42 47 63 186
MgtPrac_RegulateAgRunoff 25 49 69 78 96 42 186
MgtPrac_RemoveAlgae 50 45 74 63 64 63 186
MgtPrac_DredgeSwimmingAreas 47 42 66 73 72 57 188
MgtPrac_Pier 72 44 60 62 61 59 187
MgtPrac_FilterMachine 59 48 59 44 68 81 186
MgtPrac_FloatingDocks 71 48 64 59 42 72 189
MgtPrac_RelaxWetlandRegulations 77 28 50 44 98 61 187 topic perspective mean sd se ci
1 DredgeSwimmingAreas Effective 3.613 1.411 0.07816 0.1532
2 FilterMachine Effective 3.815 1.339 0.07694 0.1508
3 FloatingDocks Effective 2.759 1.480 0.08272 0.1621
4 Grooming Effective 4.164 1.027 0.05232 0.1025
5 PermanentBarriers Effective 3.169 1.429 0.07915 0.1551
6 Pier Effective 3.092 1.618 0.08800 0.1725
7 RegulateAgRunoff Effective 3.837 1.227 0.06448 0.1264
8 RelaxWetlandRegulations Effective 3.405 1.567 0.08653 0.1696
9 RemovableBarriers Effective 3.453 1.324 0.07180 0.1407
10 RemoveAlgae Effective 3.686 1.313 0.07184 0.1408
11 DredgeSwimmingAreas Practical 3.270 1.380 0.07965 0.1561
12 FilterMachine Practical 3.050 1.471 0.08822 0.1729
13 FloatingDocks Practical 2.835 1.396 0.08282 0.1623
14 Grooming Practical 3.789 1.200 0.06488 0.1272
15 PermanentBarriers Practical 2.706 1.416 0.08230 0.1613
16 Pier Practical 2.987 1.463 0.08462 0.1658
17 RegulateAgRunoff Practical 3.539 1.281 0.07196 0.1410
18 RelaxWetlandRegulations Practical 3.195 1.603 0.09302 0.1823
19 RemovableBarriers Practical 3.070 1.334 0.07676 0.1504
20 RemoveAlgae Practical 3.155 1.374 0.07986 0.1565
Loadings:
RC1 RC2
MgtEff_Grooming 0.563
MgtEff_RemovableBarriers 0.716
MgtEff_PermanentBarriers 0.592
MgtEff_RemoveAlgae 0.582
MgtPrac_Grooming 0.564
MgtPrac_RemovableBarriers 0.761
MgtPrac_PermanentBarriers 0.669
MgtPrac_RegulateAgRunoff 0.559
MgtPrac_RemoveAlgae 0.677
MgtEff_DredgeSwimmingAreas 0.568
MgtEff_Pier 0.745
MgtEff_FilterMachine 0.552
MgtEff_FloatingDocks 0.770
MgtPrac_DredgeSwimmingAreas 0.571
MgtPrac_Pier 0.745
MgtPrac_FilterMachine 0.527
MgtPrac_FloatingDocks 0.791
MgtEff_RegulateAgRunoff 0.451
MgtEff_RelaxWetlandRegulations
MgtPrac_RelaxWetlandRegulations 0.469
RC1 RC2
SS loadings 4.803 4.444
Proportion Var 0.240 0.222
Cumulative Var 0.240 0.462 [1] "Raise the water level by3-10 feet, Lower the water temperature, Remove the Zebra Mussels, Install a water purfication and cooling system at the river mouth, Filter strip all farm fields in the watershed, and Change the direction of the prevailing winds. Ideally the removal of all residences and businesses within 100 feet of the shoreline. "
[2] "Clarification of what dredging means...we want to remove the muck, not deepen the bottom of the bay near the swimming area. "
[3] "Greater promotion and implementation of filter strips along riparian corridors adjacent to active agricultural areas."
[4] "Since I don't know what causes the muck, I cannot make an informed recommendation regarding solutions. I do support the muck removal and installation of floating docks and a pier to allow people to access non-muck water and recreational opportunities."
[5] "Most of the above list are only addressing the symptom not the cause, anything to address symptom should be strongly encouraged through regulatory process and policy until the cause is corrected. "
[6] "Filter bags used to de=water muck and water sucked up by pumps."
[7] "Wetlands CLEAN the runoff. Removing wetlands makes the matter worse. More unnatural beach will result in more runoff contamination from non-point sources. These are leading questions designed to get specific responses for approaches that are already decided."
[8] "Allow St. Clair River to fill in former dredging, or place structures to maintain water levels at historical averages, which were higher than now; remove dredge island at mouth of Saginaw Bay; shut down coal plant which warms the water and is now emanating a great deal of noise."
[9] "Get rid of phragmities at least a mile on both sides of public beaches and regularly groom the beaches to remove harmful bacteria - let the sun do its work."
[10] "Remove the artificial regulatory environment which is used to prevent the private sector from cleaning it up. Of course this is perceived by the agencies as being against their religion, and so they subvert it, one level at a time."
[11] "I have observed beach management processes in Florida and California..They are smart enough to know that clean beaches generate more activity and ecomomic stimulus than any other resources in the State..This includes Disney and other parks..Per San Diego Hearld Tribune...They clean the beaches with big equipment every day....Every Day!!!!!Michigan thinks that a beach should take care of it self...It just is not going to happen unless Bay City gets big equipment and gets serious about cleaning the beach."
[12] "Floating docks and boardwalks would only solve the problem of walking over the muck. Need some long term solution."
[13] "The process that contributes to formation of the muck is unalterable, the only answer lies in regular grooming of the beach. Clearing out the phragmites and reclaiming the remainder of what was once one of the best beaches in Michigan outweighs the fabricated nonsense about a natural wetland existing where the beach once was."
[14] "Dump sand to extend the beach out 100 yards"
[15] "Remove the island and groins built into the bay that restrict natural water flow"
[16] "Have army corp of engineers let us do what we need to do."
[17] "use of historical data to establish timeline from 1900 to present day on every aspect of the changes that occurred at the Bay City State Recreation Area."
[18] "Muck filtering machine is the way to go. I saw prototype made by Svsu students work. Worked great. If DEQ would allow filtration of water up to 1000' out from shore on regular bases, we could get the algae and pollution before if forms muck on the shore line. A pier or floating dock much longer would be nice for access to clean water but still have issue at shore including smell. "
[19] "It takes steps....no one answer....but have to start somewhere. Relaxiing wetland protection and allowing beach cleanup would at least make the beach useable....then use whatever methid needed to address the muck issues."
[20] "Most important above----relax wetland regulations at the Bay City State Park-----we need wetland and we have wetlands---look around the Bay. We do not need them at the Bay City State Park----that should be a beach!"
[21] "The farmers do not want to waste the money on runoff therefore we don't need greater regulation. Make the waste water treatment facilities more effective and prevent overflow. Get ride of the aguatic vegitation along the beach."
[22] "provide farmers with an incentive to cut back on ditch/stream/river contamination. Fine farmers who allow cow urine and manure into waterways. The fine should equal the cost of clean-up."
[23] "Relaxed wetland regulation will make the problem worse. The wetlands at lease absorb some of the pollutants. If the wetlands are gone, it will make the problem worse."
[24] "Stop the spending of tax payers money on studies. If a company was to run like the DNR/DEQ does they would go broke. Studies from the 70's on."
[25] "anything to get rid of it."
[26] "You need to contact Helen and Newton Harrison as they have solved ecological issues like this all over the world. Visit their website at: www.theharrisonstudio.net / / PLEASE CONSIDER CONTACTING THEM AND HAVE THEM VISIT AND GIVE THEIR ASSISSMENT AND PROPOSAL!"
[27] "get out of my back yard"
[28] "Remove the man made island"
[29] "Identify the source and take action to stop the problem."
[30] "anything would help, but do something."
[31] "get the island removed"
[32] "Stick to large acreages, giant reserves. Let the small one's go. "
[33] "?"
[34] "identify the bad actors in muck propagation , rank them , assign resulations, estimate the cost effect of the solution. attact the most effective resolutions keeping in mind all concerns of everyones wants and desires,both cosmetic,health, profit, tourism, and recreation"
[35] "filtering of water near beaches"
[36] "Find out what muck is, what causes it, and eliminate the cause. "
[37] "Study currents and wind regarding the Spoils Island. When it didn't exist, neither did muck to the same degree. I believe there may be a strong correlation, preventing natural cleansing of the shoreline "
[38] "Remove the island so the flow of the Sangaw River can go back to what it was. They messed up when they put it in, no studies were made."
[39] "just wear waders"
[40] "Finding outdated, underperforming, failing septic systems and forcing updates, issuing fines, whatever it takes to fix that part of the problem. Not dredging county drains to the extent of removing the natural filtration of plants and letting all that sediment, farm effluent, etc. racing to the Bay. Reduce farm over fertilization."
[41] "Get rid of it."
[42] "Unknown"
[43] "A pier, boardwalk, and floating docks will do nothing to help with the muck issue themselves but maybe having those things would drive more people to demand muck cleanup in order to better enjoy them."
[44] "Remove muck and fill in areas with cleaner sand from out in the Bay the way they restore beaches after hurricanes."
[45] "Study, resolution, action, verification. We are stuck in the study phase...with no effort!"
[46] "We have other wetlands around the bay instead of just at state park"
[47] "Stop sewage overflows. Process sewage the same way it is done in areas that don't dump sewage into the water."
[48] "The DNR/DEQ/USEPA/US Army Corp. WILL NOT EVEN CONSIDER APPROPRIATE ENFORCEMENT, nor will any governmental entity entertain the notion that Spoils Island is at least a contributor to this problem, because of the need to continue to dump dredge spoils there."
[49] "There are different issues here. Studies to understand water currents need to be done several times (winter, spring, summer, fall?) . Maybe using dye or other indicators. Next form a strategy. Maybe a rock barrier would work. Higher cost but possibly permanent. A fishing pier either permanent (high cost, less upkeep, or floating (maybe less costly but higher maintenance) might not solve the muck but would benefit the area. A raised parking lot and tall pier (above the reeds) would greatly enhance the accessibility for fisherman or just watching boats and wildlife. Many other cities have them in the area. Why not Bay City. I have suggested this many times in the last 5-6 years to city leaders and investors. It usually comes down to money issues after environment has been addressed. I'm sure that many would pay a reasonable yearly fee for access just like any park. Bring in the people and open shops. Bait, ice cream and hot dogs, swimwear etc. might work well if enough people used it. Oh, lets not forget those coin operated binoculars and a webcam or two!"
[50] "Community programs that allow individuals to take action on approved & aoffordable methods to help clean/reduce the much without direct coordination/registration from DNR/DEQ/"
[51] "Anything that would work"
[52] "See comments from the previous page."
[53] "Can muck collection be used for the development of biofuel?"
[54] "I know there is a very good possibility of Bay County adding a Pier. that of course would do nothing for muck. however adding a boardwalk with no swimming. and cleaning a section of beach for swimmers. However does a boardwalk contribute to a muck problem? Or make it more difficult to clean the water of much? A Pier would be great to draw more people, a couple of nice cafes or ice cream shops on the water. But get rid of the Muck!! it isn't gonna be cheap! and maintenance too! "
[55] "I don't know when we moved here 30yrs ago there was no muck. Seems like it started when zebra mussels came also don't know if man made island had anything to do with it"
[56] "Years ago there were piers at the end of Stae Park Drive. Their use was to provide people a walk way to by pass the muck."
[57] "Some device in the St. Clair river to restore the outflow to normal levels would increase the water level of lakes Michigan/Huron would have the most significant long term impact."
[58] "Have an area kept clean by the shore where a pier, t-shaped would allow swimmers to enjoy the water...don't need to clean up the whole beach area"
[59] "Investigate alternative sewage treatment to reduce phosphorous release that promotes weed growth."
[60] "The areas in question regarding the muck issues are NOT now, nor have they ever been, wetlands. Therefore, to label these areas as wetlands is a bureaucratic excuse to avoid dealing with the REAL root cause - the CSO's. "
[61] "The Bay and all the rivers that dump into it aren't any cleaner today than 40 years ago. Until real effort in pollution, runoff, farming of all types this is pointless. The BAY is what it is and should be left to be what it is, a fabulous wetland habitat. The very things that would help improve the bay wetland filtering for one has been stop by the GROOMING process allowed by the state. However it is the very management of this wet land in the park that could go a long way to improve that area of the bay, were the muck has always been the worst. "
[62] "See previous comments re: Spoils Island"
[63] "if we have to live with the muck build something to get past it at least. Instead of walking through the muck a pier or boardwalk could get us out to cleaner water."
[64] "I would like to see these agencies implement a good system of water circulation with the ability to homogenize the water and get a good distribution of oxygen, adding ozone as necessary. Water circulation coupled with a reasonable system to destroy cyanobacteria (blue green algae), using up to date employment of ultrasonics to rupture the cyanobateria vacuoles will go a long way to cleaning up the entire Saginaw Bay, not just the beach front. Technology exists to achieve this, it just needs to be employed. It needs to be done carefully, and companies who claim that their systems work, should be required to show results by providing data from lakes or reservoirs where they have successfully demonstrated success at resolving these issues without having negative unintended consequences on the remainder of the environment. Companies that can do this exist, however, they may not be well established in the United States. You may have to look elsewhere for the technology. The USEPA Water Management Group in Chicago may have some helpful information on systems that might be looked at for this application. Consulting with other groups like the US EPA and other Lake management organizations may provide some positive results also. "
[65] "Get the mucke cleaning machine and use it."
[66] " Promote alternatives and regulate the nutrients flowing into the bay, focus on a short term clean-up for the swimming area in the park. Educate the public about how the nutrients THEY use enter into the bay and cause muck."
[67] "I believe a strong majority of the community believe it is directly related to dumping measured and unmeasured amounts of untreated sewage/storm water due to insufficient containment/storage by the municipalities. This is made worse by the poor water circulation in the Saginaw bay because it is ...a bay. This suspended waste enters the bay through the Saginaw river, when water velocity drop at the mouth of the Saginaw river it then reaches a level below the transport velocity of the sewage and it begins to settle or be partially suspended. Bad prevailing North Easterly storm then accumulate it at or near shore where it settles."
[68] "Temporary fixes will not be sufficient, wetland grooming coupled with muck cessation is the only way to turn that cesspool into a useable beach. It would boost the local and state economy and help bay city's quality of life tremendously."
[69] "Barriers work for the focus area but likely cause problems for others up or down the beach. Not too supportive though, due to concerns for other properties along the beachfront."
[70] "have additional settlement ponds for raw and live sewage runoff from major cities upriver, stop the overflow of additional water from homes the overload our raw sewer systems in homes upriver"
[71] "The storms from and ice movement in the Bay make permanent structures very expensive,difficult to design, build and maintain. The storms and currents also make floating docks, booms, and nets difficult to maintain. How to pay for the removal of muck and where to you take it for disposal can become an expensive operation. I do not think people would want to wall over the muck areas via structures looking down at it and smell it's flavor. It can extend hundreds of feet out from the beach one day and be gone a few days later."