Combined RSEI Water Scores and American Community Survey, 2011–2021

This dataset was created for a master's thesis in geography at the University of Utah. County-level RSEI scores and county demographics were combined for a spatiotemporal regression analysis. Counties in the contiguous United States and years 2011–2021 are included.

Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators. Annual, county-level RSEI risk scores for surface water were obtained from the EPA RSEI model through the EasyRSEI Dashboard. RSEI scores are defined as the relative potential for health risks, given the estimated exposure calculated by the EPA. A binary risk indicator was created, signifying whether the county had any risk in a given year.

American Community Survey 5-year estimates. County-level population characteristics were collected as five-year estimates from the American Community Survey, with annual estimates for the survey end year applying to each year from 2011–2021. We used the R tidycensus package to collect variables and geometry from the US Census Bureau API. Variables included total population (scaled by 10,000), percent racial composition (American Indian or Alaska Native, or AIAN; Asian; Black or African American; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, or NHPI; Some Other Race; Two or More Races; and White), and percent ethnic composition (Hispanic or Latinx). Each census-defined racial category was collected as non-Hispanic or Latinx, such that each group was mutually exclusive.