A framework for assessing ecosystem services in acequia irrigation communities of the Upper Río Grande watershed

Raheem, Nejem; Archambault, Steven; Arellano, Eduardo C.; Gonzales, Moises; Kopp, Darin A.; Rivera, José A.; Guldan, Steven J.; Boykin, Kenneth G.; Oldham, Chris; Valdez, Américo Saldivar; Colt, Steve; Lamadrid, Enrique R.; Wang, J.; Price, James I.; Goldstein, Joshua; Arnold, Pieter A.; Martin, Summer L.; Dingwell, E.

doi:10.1002/wat2.1091

Cited by 14 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Moreover, this explorative and empirical study provides insights about human perceptions regarding the importance of the river basin and related ecosystem services in all three US Rio Grande states: Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas. While research is available about some specific ecosystem services of the Rio Grande basin, or of different river sections [25][26][27], to our best knowledge, there is no study of perceived economic value for the US basin so far. This study offers a valuable economic assessment of ecosystem services by means of one holistic methodological approach across the entire US Rio Grande Basin.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived Economic Value of Ecosystem Services in the US Rio Grande Basin

Wang

Ziolkowska

2021

Sustainability

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In recent decades, the US Rio Grande Basin has experienced serious ecosystem degradation as a result of recurring severe droughts and a growing population. Monetary valuation of ecosystem services is essential for encouraging conservation where natural resources such as freshwater are limited. Research in this field is still very limited, and economic estimations of ecosystem services in the US Rio Grande Basin have not been undertaken extensively. This study adds to the existing contemporary literature by means of the willingness-to-pay evaluation. We found the mean household wiliness to pay of total ecosystem services across the Rio Grande Basin to amount to USD 62/year, and the average perceived economic value was estimated to be USD 26.2, USD 19.7, USD 8.1, and USD 7.1 yearly for conservation of habitat for wildlife, provision of freshwater supplies, recreational activities, and cultural heritage, respectively. The income and perceptions about the importance of various ecosystem services in the Rio Grande Basin were among the main determinants of respondents’ assessments. The findings provide an appropriate foundation for incorporating perceived economic value into watershed management and conservation.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived Economic Value of Ecosystem Services in the US Rio Grande Basin

Wang

Ziolkowska

2021

Sustainability

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“…The upland subwatershed is defined as the region of area that drains to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) gage 8267500 (name: Rio Hondo near Valdez) on the Rio Hondo, where discharge measurements have been collected since 1935 (USGS, ). The upland subwatershed of the Rio Hondo lies above 2,300 meters in elevation, is underlain by unweathered bedrock, and is predominantly forested (MRLC, ; NRCS, ; Raheem et al, ). A majority of the upland subwatershed is designated as wilderness areas, where the use of power tools is legally prohibited (Frutz, ); therefore, only very limited management currently occurs in the upland forests of the Rio Hondo (Frutz, ).…”

Section: Study Area and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Influential Role of Sociocultural Feedbacks on Community‐Managed Irrigation System Behaviors During Times of Water Stress

Gunda

Turner

Tidwell

2018

Water Resources Research

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Sociohydrological studies use interdisciplinary approaches to explore the complex interactions between physical and social water systems and increase our understanding of emergent and paradoxical system behaviors. The dynamics of community values and social cohesion, however, have received little attention in modeling studies due to quantification challenges. Social structures associated with community‐managed irrigation systems around the world, in particular, reflect these communities' experiences with a multitude of natural and social shocks. Using the Valdez acequia (a communally‐managed irrigation community in northern New Mexico) as a simulation case study, we evaluate the impact of that community's social structure in governing its responses to water availability stresses posed by climate change. Specifically, a system dynamics model (developed using insights from community stakeholders and multiple disciplines that captures biophysical, socioeconomic, and sociocultural dynamics of acequia systems) was used to generate counterfactual trajectories to explore how the community would behave with streamflow conditions expected under climate change. We found that earlier peak flows, combined with adaptive measures of shifting crop selection, allowed for greater production of higher value crops and fewer people leaving the acequia. The economic benefits were lost, however, if downstream water pressures increased. Even with significant reductions in agricultural profitability, feedbacks associated with community cohesion buffered the community's population and land parcel sizes from more detrimental impacts, indicating the community's resilience under natural and social stresses. Continued exploration of social structures is warranted to better understand these systems' responses to stress and identify possible leverage points for strengthening community resilience.

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“…An ES inventory is an organized list or table of ES by category in a given landscape. ES inventories have been completed in the United States (Raheem et al, 2015), Belgium (Turkelboom et al, 2014), and Portugal (Sousa, Sousa, Alves, & Lillebø, 2016). We developed the ES inventory through a participatory workshop based on the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES), to ensure participants could choose from a wide range of services, and to work with an internationally recognized framework (Environment and Natural Resources Code, 2016;Eurostat, n.d.;Victoria Parks, n.d.).…”

Section: Ecosystem Services Workhopsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Planning for ecological drought: Integrating ecosystem services and vulnerability assessment

et al. 2019

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As research recognizes the importance of ecological impacts of drought to natural and human communities, drought planning processes need to better incorporate ecological impacts. Drought planning currently recognizes the vulnerability of some ecological impacts from drought (e.g., loss of instream flow affecting fish populations). However, planning often does not identify all the ecological aspects in a landscape that stakeholders value, nor does it examine the extent to which those aspects are vulnerable to drought. One approach for identifying ecological aspects is ecosystem services (ES)-that is, the benefits humans receive from nature. To incorporate ecological impacts into drought planning in the Upper Missouri Headwaters (UMH) region (Montana, USA), we combined ES elicitation using the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services and a vulnerability assessment using semi-structured interviews. We juxtaposed results from the interviews and the ES elicitation to assess which ES might be vulnerable to drought and which impacts from interviews were associated with losses of ES. While both methods suggested common drought vulnerabilities, each method also suggested drought vulnerabilities not reported using the other method. The ES elicitation produced more detail about services present in the UMH ecosystem today while interviews resulted in more discussion about ecological transformation from future droughts. Results suggest that some combination of open-ended vulnerability assessment methods and ES elicitation using a structured framework can result in greater understanding of ecological drought vulnerability in a given region.

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A framework for assessing ecosystem services in acequia irrigation communities of the Upper Río Grande watershed

Cited by 14 publications

References 47 publications

Perceived Economic Value of Ecosystem Services in the US Rio Grande Basin

Perceived Economic Value of Ecosystem Services in the US Rio Grande Basin

The Influential Role of Sociocultural Feedbacks on Community‐Managed Irrigation System Behaviors During Times of Water Stress

Planning for ecological drought: Integrating ecosystem services and vulnerability assessment

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