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EVALUATION OF ECONOMIC INCENTIVES FOR DECENTRALIZED STORMWATER RUNOFF MANAGEMENT
Citation:
SHUSTER, W. D., H. THURSTON, A. ROY, T. HOAGLAND, AND M. CLAGETT. EVALUATION OF ECONOMIC INCENTIVES FOR DECENTRALIZED STORMWATER RUNOFF MANAGEMENT. Presented at STORMWATER SEMINAR IV WATERSHED RESEARCH AND DESIGN, DAYTON, OH, May 12, 2005.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
Impervious surfaces in urban and suburban areas can lead to excess stormwater runoff throughout a watershed, typically resulting in widespread hydrologic and ecological alteration of receiving streams. Decentralized stormwater management may improve stream ecosystems by reducing erosional stormflows, increasing stream baseflows, and reducing delivery of pollutants to streams. In the Shepherd Creek area of Cincinnati, Ohio, US EPA's Sustainable Environment Branch is conducting a pilot study of an economic incentive program that encourages on-site detention of stormwater runoff by residential landowners. This study employs a non-uniform price auction to determine a low cost allocation of parcel-level best management practices (BMPs), in the form of rain gardens and rain barrels. Homeowners in the pilot project area will participate in the auction by submitting sealed bids of the compensation they are willing to accept to place a BMP on their property, thereby making BMP assignment more cost-effective. Subsequent monitoring will determine if these BMPs reduce hydrologic alteration and improve stream ecosystem health. The study evaluates legal and institutional barriers to the deployment of BMPs, and transferability of this alternative stormwater management program.