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The Value of Water Quality to Coastal Recreation in New England
Citation:
Mazzotta, M., N. Merrill, K. Mulvaney, J. Twichell, AND S. Atkinson. The Value of Water Quality to Coastal Recreation in New England. CNREP 2019, National Forum on Socioeconomic Research in Coastal Systems, New Orleans, Louisiana, May 19 - 21, 2019.
Impact/Purpose:
Coastal waters are affected by nonpoint sources of pollutants that degrade water quality, especially nutrients and pathogens. There little information about social values of coastal recreation as it relates to water quality, but this information is important for informing policy and management decisions. This research addresses the number of people who use coastal areas for recreation, how economic values relate to water quality, and how people perceive water quality. The results can be used to inform coastal water quality management decisions.
Description:
Nutrient over-enrichment is a significant problem in coastal waterbodies, particularly estuaries, across the United States. There are few existing studies of participation in and values for coastal recreation other than fishing, particularly as related to water quality; and those that exist are outdated. Moreover, recreation at the many smaller but heavily-used coastal access points is not well-studied. This information is critical for informing efforts to improve water quality in coastal systems. At the Atlantic Ecology Division of the U.S. EPA, we are conducting research that explores the social dimensions of water quality and recreation, including understanding the number of people who use coastal areas for recreation, how much they value coastal recreation, and how those values are affected by changes in water quality. Our research includes a primary data collection effort using a revealed preference survey to elicit coastal New England residents’ values for water recreation, sense of place, and perceptions of water quality. This presentation will include an overview of the survey and related research and preliminary results, including discussion of various models that we will be estimating using the survey data and water quality data. These include the use of water quality perceptions versus objective measures, modeling short trips to nearby smaller access points as opposed to visits to major beaches, and other topics. The aim of this work is to provide a picture of how water quality affects the value of various types of recreation in coastal areas and estuaries, especially the many smaller access points.