The Application and Usefulness of Economic Analyses for Water Quality Management in Coastal Areas

Abstract

Economic studies are increasingly sought as tools to contribute to water quality management in estuaries and coastal communities, yet little is known about how the results from existing studies have been received and utilized by the organizations who solicited them. We interviewed managers from eight organizations who solicited economic studies over the past 15 years to understand how useful the studies were to their organizations and what economic research would be most helpful for their management needs. In terms of utility for coastal managers, there are a number of limitations in the studies. These include lack of site-specific data, the high cost of thorough studies, the appropriate application of methods, and receiving highly technical information that can be difficult to translate to the appropriate stakeholder audiences. Despite these drawbacks, we found the managers to be extremely positive about the usefulness of the economic studies, but in need of more research and localized data. Managers who embark upon economic analyses should take care to engage trained economists who can identify and implement appropriate methodologies to answer management questions, and who can help managers to interpret and communicate the findings. The coastal managers also identified specific areas of research that are most salient for their programs. These range from broad applications of economic analysis as a communication tool, to specific applications such as costeffectiveness analyses of management actions. Overall, the interviews revealed great interest and utility in economic analyses, and also opportunities for conducting specific economic analyses to improve coastal decision making.

Synthesis of Two Decades of US EPA’s Ecosystem Services Research to Inform Environmental, Community and Sustainability Decision Making

“…Research on measurement and characterization of benefits includes focus on metrics and indicators [109] and on mapping [110]. Research on valuation includes focus on characterizing the economics of ES [111][112][113].…”

“…As a result, economic applications of ES are sometimes needed to inform decision making. An overview of terminology, such as the four types of non-market values (direct-use values; indirect use values; option values; and non-use values) is provided in [112]. They describe a range of economic methods that may be employed for analyses, including cost-effectiveness analysis, economic contribution analysis, economic impact analysis, or economic benefits analysis.…”

“…In a survey of natural resource managers and their use of economic valuation surveys, ref. [123] three areas of interest were identified: (1) economic contributions and/or environmental impacts to the local economy; (2) values of the environment that the public is willing to pay for/give up for a management decision; and (3) the total, overall value of assets provided by an ecosystem. There is a general need to develop benefit estimates as part of regulation development; Weber [111] presented approaches to non-market ecological valuations in the context of regulatory support for the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act using examples including valuation of secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standards.…”