Coastal Water Information Orders: Reverse-Engineering New York City's Data Dashboards

This article examines the information systems governing individual relationships to urban coastal waterways, drawing from two data publication initiatives in New York City. In these two cases, data structure and web design features cultivate specific forms of knowledge about water quality, pollution, and the health risks represented by recreational activities such as swimming and fishing. Analysis of the data structure and web source code shows the forms of knowledge concerning water quality each project facilitates or obscures. Findings are considered within the framework of an 'information order', which refers to the prevailing conditions for knowledge that are facilitated by communication practices, infrastructures, and tools. The study finds that both initiatives are shaped by their reliance on widely shared geographic information systems and web development frameworks, as well as their emphasis on enterococcus bacteria as an indicator of pollution, rather than other potential metrics. Such widely shared digital and observational features may facilitate and structure other forms of knowledge production now and in the future.