Influence of Social Media on Public Perception of Municipal Water Supply Development

Estrella-Legal, Jean Paulynn, Bell, Jeffrey (Jeff), Neufeld, Justin

Dans les comptes rendus d’articles de la conférence: GeoNiagara 2021: 74th Canadian Geotechnical Conference; 14th joint with IAH-CNC

ABSTRACT: The Town of Niverville recently established a new municipal well field to supply the fast-growing community. After an exploratory hydrogeological test program, a location was identified several kilometers east of the town, in the neighboring Rural Municipality of Hanover. The new wells were located about one kilometer west of the community of New Bothwell. The initial project included public consultations such as stakeholder meetings and open houses. This outreach was important to communicate plans for the new water supply and to address questions or concerns that the public might have. In this way, accurate information could be provided and any misinformation could be easily corrected. In the summer of 2018, a well inference complaint was made against the new municipal supply wells. The complaint was posted to a public forum on Facebook. Within a few days, the number of complaints had multiplied significantly and the problem had become a topic of intense speculation within the community. Accusations against the Town of Niverville had proliferated and it was generally believed that the Town was responsible. The highly interconnected nature of social media allowed a false narrative to spread and to gain a significant level of notoriety within the region. The Town of Niverville did not have the groundwater supply fully operational at the time of the complaints. The reality of the situation was complex and involved atypical climatic conditions, changing local industry water usage, and unique local aquifer dynamics. Without appropriate information, it was apparent that the commonly held public opinion was not based in fact. In the end, public perception was negatively impacted by the uncontrolled nature of social media which allowed misinformation to dominate the discussion. Based on these experiences, future water supply projects should include efforts to address the strong influence that social media has on public discourse.

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