Grantee Research Project Results

2017 Progress Report: An Integrated Valuation Model Linking Nutrient Reductions to Changing Ecosystem Services in Freshwater Systems

EPA Grant Number: R836168
Title: An Integrated Valuation Model Linking Nutrient Reductions to Changing Ecosystem Services in Freshwater Systems
Investigators: Herriges, Joseph A. , Lupi, Frank , Stevenson, R. Jan
Current Investigators: Lupi, Frank , Stevenson, R. Jan , Herriges, Joseph A.
Institution: Michigan State University
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: September 1, 2016 through August 31, 2020 (Extended to August 31, 2023)
Project Period Covered by this Report: September 1, 2016 through August 31,2017
Project Amount: $799,074
RFA: Water Quality Benefits (2015) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Water

Objective:

The purpose of this research is to estimate the use and non-use values stemming from changes in nutrient loadings to freshwater systems of Michigan (rivers, lakes, and the Great Lakes) and, in doing so, address a number of challenges in the theory and practice of non-market valuation of water resources. Of the project’s three objectives, the first focuses on quantifying changes in water quality stemming from changes in nutrient loadings and developing water quality metrics that can be used to effectively communicate the corresponding changes in ecosystem services. Objective 2 seeks to use these metrics to assess how total willingness-to-pay (TWTP) depends on resource type (streams, lakes, and Great Lakes), location, and the spatial scale of impacts (e.g., lakes/stream segments, HUC10 or HUC8 sub-basins up to HUC4 regions). Objective 3 is concerned with the various approaches used in the literature to apportion TWTP into use and non-use components.

Progress Summary:

The key tasks for the project center on designing and fielding two nonmarket valuation surveys. The baseline survey will examine how TWTP differs in terms of the resource impacted (Great Lakes versus inland lakes and rivers) and the reported ecosystem service affected (fish biomass, biological condition gradient, etc.). The second survey, on the other hand, will examine how TWTP changes across policy scenarios with different spatial scales, information treatments, and users versus non-user valuations. Our efforts during this reporting period have focused on the development of the water quality metrics to be used in the baseline and follow-up surveys and on the design of the baseline survey itself. For water quality metrics, we are building off of and expanding upon the EPA’s National Water Quality Survey by exploring the use of three water quality metrics to separately convey the impact of water quality changes on (1) recreation involving water contact (e.g., swimming, boating), (2) recreational fishing, and (3) wildlife/naturalness, i.e., the variety and abundance of species in a waterway and the extent to which it has departed from its natural state.

Future Activities:

The two key tasks we will be focusing on during the second year of the project will be finalizing the design and fielding of the online baseline survey and improving on the water quality metrics. First, we anticipate expanding on and updating the fish biomass data used in the Fishing Score. The biomass data we have for inland lakes covers most lakes over 10 acres in the state, but we plan to expand the data to all lakes of this size. Similarly, many of the water quality measures (e.g., total phosphorus, total suspended solids, etc.) are available only for a set of monitoring stations. Our plan in the coming year is to develop models of the index components as a function of naturally varying attributes and human activities on the landscape. This will allow us to fill in gaps in the water quality factors and to predict changes induced by nutrient policies in the state.

Journal Articles:

No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 12 publications for this project

Progress and Final Reports:

Original Abstract

The 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.