US EPA

The report is intended to assist water quality officials, watershed managers, members of stakeholder groups, and other interested individuals in fully evaluating ecological and socioeconomic objectives and the gains and losses that often are involved in use attainment decisions. In addition, this report enables local, state, and tribal managers to better understand the benefits, as well as the costs, of attaining high water quality, and to incorporate community preferences in decision-making.

The purpose of this report is to enable states and authorized tribes — and their associated communities — to make informed decisions about their water bodies while complying with the provisions of the Clean Water Act. It enables local, state, and tribal managers to better understand the benefits, as well as the costs, of attaining high water quality, and to incorporate community preferences in decision-making.

Specific objectives are (1) to provide an introduction to the CWA and WQS regulation and analyses related to setting or changing designated uses; (2) create a basis for understanding the relationship between use-attainment decisions and the effects on ecosystems, ecosystem services, and ecological benefits; (3) serve as reference for methods that elicit or infer preferences for benefits and costs related to attaining uses and (4) present process for incorporating new approaches in water quality decisions.

U.S. EPA. A Framework Incorporating Community Preferences In Use Attainment and Related Water Quality Decision-Making (2010 Final). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/625/R-08/001F, 2010.