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VALUATION OF BENEFITS FROM ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT IN U.S. COASTAL WATERS
Impact/Purpose:
Research to provide much needed information on the value of improving coastal waters.
Description:
The purpose of this study is to estimate willingness to pay for water quality improvements in coastal waters. The United States Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Water is responsible for regulating and monitoring national water quality. In order to make sound policy decisions, policy makers need information on the benefits, costs, and other effects of alternative options for addressing environmental problems. In the case of policies affecting water quality, estimates of the public's willingness to pay for improvements in fresh water quality generally begin with estimates provided by Mitchell and Carson (1993); however, the study, does not address salt water areas. The coasts and estuaries comprise a substantial part of our national resource base; these coastal areas are depended upon for the aesthetic, economic, ecosystem, and recreational services they provide. However, coastal areas are also the most highly developed and populated areas in the nation. This narrow fringe comprising 17% of the contiguous U.S. land area is home to more than 53% of the nation's population. As coastal population has increased, the environmental quality of some of these areas has declined or is threatened. Despite these efforts, serious water pollution problems persist and, as such, many future water policies will likely focus on coastal areas. The lack of estimates of the benefits of improvements to these areas makes designing effective policies particularly difficult. This study will estimate willingness to pay for water quality improvements in coastal waters using a stated preference survey. Currently, States, tribes, and other jurisdictions measure water quality by determining if water bodies are clean enough to support basic uses, such as swimming, fishing, and aquatic life support. In keeping with these definitions of water quality, the study will estimate willingness to pay for more fishable and swimmable coastal and estuarine waters as well as healthy marine and estuarine aquatic environments. Respondents will be asked a series of five questions in which they must compare two programs with the status quo. The programs each affect water quality for the various uses in different ways and cost varying amounts to implement. Analysis of the resulting data will yield WTP estimates for improvements to each of the attributes.