Environmental Costs of Freshwater Eutrophication in England and Wales

Abstract

Eutrophication has many known consequences, but there are few data on the environmental and health costs. We developed a new framework of cost categories that assess both social and ecological damage costs and policy response costs. These findings indicate the severe effects of nutrient enrichment and eutrophication on many sectors of the economy. We estimate the damage costs of freshwater eutrophication in England and Wales to be $105-160 million yr -1 (£75.0-114.3 m). The policy response costs are a measure of how much is being spent to address this damage, and these amount to $77 million yr -1 (£54.8 m). The damage costs are dominated by seven items each with costs of $15 million yr -1 or more: reduced value of waterfront dwellings, drinking water treatment costs for nitrogen removal, reduced recreational and amenity value of water bodies, drinking water treatment costs for removal of algal toxins and decomposition products, reduced value of nonpolluted atmosphere, negative ecological effects on biota, and net economic losses from the tourist industry. In common with other environmental problems, it would represent net value (or cost reduction) if damage was prevented at source. A variety of effective economic, regulatory, and administrative policy instruments are available for internalizing these costs.

The effect of risk perception on public preferences and willingness to pay for reductions in the health risks posed by toxic cyanobacterial blooms

“…It is widely recognised that the declining status of surface waters globally imposes substantial economic costs on society (Pretty et al, 2003;Dodds et al, 2009) and thus the anticipated improvements in ecological status of Europe's surface waters under the WFD can be expected to generate significant social and economic benefits.…”

“…Pretty et al (2003) estimate that the environmental costs of eutrophication in England and Wales are approximately £75.0-114.3 million per year. This estimate was based upon an assumption that the health cost to humans from blooms of toxic cyanobacteria is effectively zero because reported incidences of ill health are rare (although one could argue the vast majority of cases of ill health resulting from human exposure to cyanotoxins are likely to go unreported or be misdiagnosed by health care professionals).…”

Identifying multiple stressor controls on phytoplankton dynamics in the River Thames (UK) using high-frequency water quality data

“…Excessive algal growth can result in shifts in species composition, including the loss of macrophyte and macroinvertebrate communities, and the low dissolved oxygen concentrations that often accompany the cessation of blooms can lead to fish kills (Carpenter et al, 1998;Hilton et al, 2006). They can cause significant financial loses to the water industry, due to filter blockages at water abstraction points and toxin, taint and odour problems produced by cyanobacterial communities, and can greatly affect the leisure and tourism industry (Dodds et al, 2009;Pretty et al, 2003;Whitehead et al, 2013). It is vital that the controls and causes of riverine phytoplankton blooms are identified and understood, so that effective measures can be adopted to reduce the risk of severe and damaging blooms in the future, particularly because they are predicted to increase in magnitude under future climate change scenarios (Johnson et al, 2009;Whitehead et al, 2013).…”

Laboratory-determined Phosphorus Flux from Lake Sediments as a Measure of Internal Phosphorus Loading

“…Nutrient loading to lakes can result in both environmental and economic impairments [21][22][23] ; therefore, it is crucial that society understands the nature of the nutrient sources and how to manage them. Costly attempts to reduce nutrient loading may not improve water quality if the appropriate contributing source (i.e.…”