Valuing preferences over stormwater management outcomes including improved hydrologic function

Abstract

[1] Stormwater runoff causes environmental problems such as flooding, soil erosion, and water pollution. Conventional stormwater management has focused primarily on flood reduction, while a new generation of decentralized stormwater solutions yields ancillary benefits such as healthier aquatic habitat, improved surface water quality, and increased water table recharge. Previous research has estimated values for flood reduction from stormwater management, but no estimates exist for the willingness to pay (WTP) for some of the other environmental benefits of alternative approaches to stormwater control. This paper uses a choice experiment survey of households in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, to estimate the values of several attributes of stormwater management outcomes. We analyzed data from 131 surveyed households in randomly selected neighborhoods. We find that people value reduced basement flooding more than reductions in yard or street flooding, but WTP for basement flood reduction in the area only exists if individuals are currently experiencing significant flooding themselves. Citizens value both improved water quality and improved hydrologic function and aquatic habitat from runoff reduction. Thus, widespread investment in low impact development stormwater solutions could have very large total benefits, and stormwater managers should be wary of policies and infrastructure plans that reduce flooding at the expense of water quality and aquatic habitat.

Valuing environmental services provided by local stormwater management

“…Some studies estimate the WTP for improvements in the quality of surface water [ Carson and Mitchell , ; Van Houtven et al ., ] and the prevention of flooding [ Bin and Polasky , ; Zhai et al ., ] in the context of local stormwater management projects. Londoño Cadavid and Ando [] are the first to combine flood prevention and stream health benefits in a nonmarket valuation study and show for their sample of 131 households in Champaign‐Urbana, Illinois, that individuals have a positive WTP for reductions in basement flooding, as well as improved water quality and stream health. Other benefits, including increased water security, have received comparatively little attention in the literature [ Cooper et al ., ].…”

“…The transferability of WTP values is particularly important in the context of spatially distributed stormwater management and the limited resources available to conduct new valuation studies. Many large cities need to decide whether to pursue green infrastructures for stormwater management and, thus far, the primary study of nonmarket benefits of water sensitive stormwater management was conducted in a town of less than 1,00,000 people [ Londoño Cadavid and Ando , ].…”

“…The positive total WTP is mainly driven by the high and significant MWTP values for the improvements in stream health (A$297), reduction in water restrictions (A$244), prevention of flash flooding (A$104) and cooler summer temperatures (A$65). These findings provide further support for previous results that identify a positive WTP for stream health [ Londoño Cadavid and Ando , ] and water security [ Cooper et al ., ].…”

Framework for the optimization of operation and design of systems with different alternative water sources

“…The security of supply with regard to climate change needs to be considered Cai et al 2015), as some sources are climate dependent and some are climate independent. The social acceptability of using particular sources for particular applications and the willingness of consumers to pay more for alternative source systems to be constructed and maintained may need to be incorporated (Hwang et al 2006;Londoño Cadavid and Ando 2013;Fielding et al 2015). The perception of risks associated with alternative water source systems by water system managers may also present a barrier to the implementation and success of such systems (Dobbie and Brown 2012;West et al 2016).…”

Eco‐engineering in urbanised coastal systems: consideration of social values

“…Further, a high percentage of the public would be prepared to pay increased taxes for the maintenance of green infrastructure (Blaine & Lichtkoppter ; Chen et al . ; Lo & Jim ; Londono Cadavid & Ando ; Mell et al . ).…”