Throughout the scientific literature, beaches have been regarded as very valuable ecosystems for the tourism industry; however, these ecosystems provide multiple direct and indirect benefits beyond tourism. This paper accounts for the results from a Willingness to Pay (WTP) study using data from 425 respondents at three beaches in the Colombian Caribbean Region. Out of the respondents from the three beaches, over 70% expressed a positive WTP to maintain Beach Ecosystem Services (BES) beyond tourism purposes. At two beaches, the payment amount was 3.40 US$/month, while at the third beach the payment amount was 6.80 US$/month. Beach environmental quality seemed to be an important aspect regarding the payment amount. It is highlighted that WTP in beaches did not depend on economic variables such as income or employment, whereas variables related to perception had a determining impact. WTP for BES was defined by interest in environmental issues and concerns about ecosystem services loss. The results offered hereto could provide support to decision makers through quantitative information on social preferences regarding beach improvement projects policies, if several reflections are considered.
Fragile coastal areas suffer from human activities. Environmental quality is one of the most important aspects in a tourist destination of sun and sand. The quality of bathing water and sand became indicators in the worldwide competition of beach destinations. We studied the water and sand quality along the beach of Puerto Velero, in northern Colombia. Water and sand beach quality were monitored during thirteen months. This allowed identifying the most significant sources of pollution along the beach, and understanding the interrelationship between tourism and the effects on the environment. Linear correlations allow assessing the association between the number of visitors and the physicochemical and microbiological parameters. The number of visitors was directly correlated with the presence of grease and oils, both in water and sand, as well as with fecal coliforms in water. A relation between the suspended solids and the presence of fecal coliforms in water and sand was observed. This statistical approach allows understanding the origin of beach sand and swimming water pollution at tourist beaches.
The Guájaro reservoir is the most important water body located at the north of Colombia. It is supplied by an artificial channel (Canal del Dique) through a two floodgates system. As a result of excess nutrients and other pollution loads from the drainage basin in recent decades, the Guájaro reservoir suffers eutrophication and other pollution problems; however it still continues being exploited. For this reason, it is necessary to regulate the hydraulic structures that supply this water body, as they play an important role in managing levels, and these in turn for water supply and environmental purposes. The present work is carried out as a sustainability management alternative of the reservoir. The implementation of a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model and its calibration is achieved using time series of the free surface levels, and comparing the measured velocities and those estimated by the model for two different climatic periods, to assist the operation of the Canal del Dique-Guájaro hydrosystem. The corresponding comparisons showed a good behavior between measured and simulated data. Based on the quantitative results of the Nash-Sutcliffe reliability method, the results are considered quite satisfactory for estimating and predicting the amount of water flowing in and out of the reservoir through the channel reservoir hydrosystem.
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