Economic Value of Florida Water Resources: Contributions of Tourism and Recreation to the Economy

Borisova, Tatiana; Oehlbeck, Kurt; Bi, Xiang; Wade, Tara; Hodges, Alan W.; Grogan, Kelly A.; Hei, Fe

doi:10.32473/edis-fe1065-2019

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…For example, spring-based tourism provides a significant contribution to the economy, with the valueadded for 15 major springs in the study area estimated at $52.58 million in 2014 (Borisova et al, 2018). Further, Wu et al (2018) showed that the estimated average springbased recreation trip was valued by the tourists at $28.91 per person per trip, which can be translated into the total recreational value for four major springs in the study area of about $25 million annually (Borisova et al, 2020;Wu et al, 2018). Continued spring degradation is expected to reduce the value assigned by the tourists to the spring-based recreation trips, the number of visitors, and the resulting tourism contribution to the regional economy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Choosing Nitrogen Application Rate Recommendation Given Florida’s Regulatory Water Policy

Borisova²,

Athearn

et al. 2022

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State and federal policies in the United States focus on agricultural best management practices (BMP)—such as improving nutrient management—to address water quality issues. BMP development is a challenging process as a new BMP may also affect farm profitability. This article explores the economic feasibility of nitrogen (N) management programs, including nitrogen application rates (N rates), given alternative scenarios for current nitrogen use and producer risk perceptions of carrot production in Florida. In this study, eight alternative N rates are ranked to find the economically optimal BMP. Carrot profitability is determined based on carrot yields per hectare, input costs, and carrot sale prices, using data from a 2-year carrot production experiment. The analysis applied stochastic simulation to account for the uncertain factors by using Simetar Add-In for Excel. We found that 224 kg·ha−1 N fertilizer rate is the most preferred by the producers among the eight rates considered. According to Florida’s agricultural water policy, BMP recommendations should balance water quality improvements and agricultural productivity. We consider the potential reduction of nitrogen fertilizer rate BMP from 224 kg·ha−1 to 168 kg·ha−1 and show that the effect of such reduction depends on producers’ current fertilizer application rates and their risk aversion levels. For example, reducing the N fertilizer rate from 336 kg·ha−1 to 168 kg·ha−1 decreases mean net returns by only 2% ($49/ha). In contrast, reducing the nitrogen fertilizer rate from 224 kg·ha−1 to 168 kg·ha−1 reduces the mean net returns by $151/ha, with an almost 10% reduction in the certainty equivalent of the net returns (for extremely risk-averse producers). Overall, if most producers in the region are very or extremely risk-averse, and if most of them operate close to the optimal level of fertilizer use, then setting the more restrictive BMP of 168 kg·ha−1 N can be perceived as undermining their economic profitability and require significant cost-share incentives to ensure targeted 100% adoption of BMP recommendations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Choosing Nitrogen Application Rate Recommendation Given Florida’s Regulatory Water Policy

Borisova²,

Athearn

et al. 2022

horts

Self Cite

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“…Recreation is one of the most listed freshwater ecosystem services documented in the literature (see Böck et al, 2018; Hanna et al, 2018; Kaval, 2019; Vári et al, 2021). Beyond human well‐being, recreational services often contribute to local and regional economies (e.g., Borisova et al, 2020; Getzner, 2015; Sánchez et al, 2021) and have the potential to engage large numbers of people in and around freshwater bodies. With over 4.55 billion social media users, the opportunity to connect with others through these platforms is powerful, though under‐used to promote freshwater biodiversity conservation (He et al, 2021).…”

Section: Non‐materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

People need freshwater biodiversity

et al. 2023

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Freshwater biodiversity, from fish to frogs and microbes to macrophytes, provides a vast array of services to people. Mounting concerns focus on the accelerating pace of biodiversity loss and declining ecological function within freshwater ecosystems that continue to threaten these natural benefits. Here, we catalog nine fundamental ecosystem services that the biotic components of indigenous freshwater biodiversity provide to people, organized into three categories: material (food; health and genetic resources; material goods), nonmaterial (culture; education and science; recreation), and regulating (catchment integrity; climate regulation; water purification and nutrient cycling). If freshwater biodiversity is protected, conserved, and restored in an integrated manner, as well as more broadly appreciated by humanity, it will continue to contribute to human well-being and our sustainable future via this wide range of services and associated nature-based solutions to our sustainable future.

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