Eutrophication of U.S. Freshwaters: Analysis of Potential Economic Damages

Abstract

Human-induced eutrophication degrades freshwater systems worldwide by reducing water quality and altering ecosystem structure and function. We compared current total nitrogen (TN) and phosphorus (TP) concentrations for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency nutrient ecoregions with estimated reference conditions. In all nutrient ecoregions, current median TN and TP values for rivers and lakes exceeded reference median values. In 12 of 14 ecoregions, over 90% of rivers currently exceed reference median values. We calculated potential annual value losses in recreational water usage, waterfront real estate, spending on recovery of threatened and endangered species, and drinking water. The combined costs were approximately $2.2 billion annually as a result of eutrophication in U.S. freshwaters. The greatest economic losses were attributed to lakefront property values ($0.3-2.8 billion per year, although this number was poorly constrained) and recreational use ($0.37-1.16 billion per year). Our evaluation likely underestimates economic losses incurred from freshwater eutrophication. We document potential costs to identify where restoring natural nutrient regimes can have the greatest economic benefits. Our research exposes gaps in current records (e.g., accounting for frequency of algal blooms and fish kills) and suggests further research is necessary to refine cost estimates.

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.…”

Cyanotoxins in inland lakes of the United States: Occurrence and potential recreational health risks in the EPA National Lakes Assessment 2007

“…Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs) have been implicated in human and animal illness and death in over 50 countries and at least 41 U.S. States Backer et al, 2015). The economic impacts of freshwater harmful algal blooms (HAB) have not been systematically estimated; however, impacts from eutrophication, one consequence of which is HABs, have been estimated to be $2.2 billion (US dollars) annually (Dodds et al, 2009;USEPA, 2015).…”

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).…”