Grantee Research Project Results
2018 Progress Report: Estimating the Benefits of Stream Water Quality Improvements in Urbanizing Watersheds: An Ecological Production Function Approach
EPA Grant Number: R836165Title: Estimating the Benefits of Stream Water Quality Improvements in Urbanizing Watersheds: An Ecological Production Function Approach
Investigators: von Haefen, Roger , Van Houtven, George L. , Obenour, Daniel Redd , Taylor, Laura , Kenney, Melissa , Gerst, Michael
Current Investigators: von Haefen, Roger , Taylor, Laura , Van Houtven, George L. , Obenour, Daniel Redd , Kenney, Melissa , Gerst, Michael
Institution: North Carolina State University , Desert Research Institute , University of Maryland - College Park
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: June 1, 2016 through May 31, 2020 (Extended to May 31, 2021)
Project Period Covered by this Report: June 1, 2018 through May 31,2019
Project Amount: $799,728
RFA: Water Quality Benefits (2015) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Water
Objective:
To support EPA's efforts to advance knowledge for conducting economic evaluations of environmental policies, the main objective of our proposed research is to develop and demonstrate methods for valuing the use and nonuse benefits of improving water quality in wadeable streams in urbanizing watersheds. These streams provide valuable ecosystem services and are subject to a combination of anthropogenic stressors that have led to pervasive degradation referred to as “urban stream syndrome". Understanding how the general public perceives and values improvements in stream conditions is necessary to support EPA’s efforts to quantify the public’s willingness to pay (WTP) for water quality improvements.
Progress Summary:
In year 3, additional focus groups were conducted to finalize attribute descriptions and the structure of the choice experiments in our stated preference survey instrument. Most of the logistics for the "push-to- internet" survey design were worked out with RTI. The water quality modeling that leveraged existing Upper Neuse River basin data and a Bayesian hierarchical framework was completed, and further groundwork for the expert elicitation was laid. The full research team convened two meetings to discuss the integration of the different research parts. Finally, a no-cost extension was granted by EPA, giving the research team an additional year to complete its work.
Future Activities:
A focus group, several cognitive interviews and a pre-test through Qualtrics are all next steps to be completed before fielding our main stated preference survey during Fall 2019. The expert elicitation will also be completed during Fall 2019. With all three components of the grant - the water quality modeling, expert elicitation and stated preference survey - completed by Winter 2019, the case study for the Upper Neuse River basin of the Triangle region will commence soon thereafter, and the final report will be drafted in Spring 2020.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 2 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
Water quality, economic benefits, willingness to pay, stated preference methods, expert elicitation, ecological production function, wadeable streams, Upper Neuse River Basin, Cape Fear River BasinProgress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.