Economics and Ecological Risk Assessment: Applications to Watershed Management

Abstract

* Evaluates ecological, socioeconomic, institutional and historical dimensions of watershed decision-making * Discusses real problems in six watersheds in the US, including urban development, agriculture, sediment contamination, water withdrawal and endangered species protection * Reviews the respective roles of ecological risk assessment (ERA) and economic analysis in the development of water quality standards under the Clean Water Act * Offers a framework for the integration of ERA and economic analysis, and applies the framework to a set of watershed case studies * Includes diverse perspectives of natural and social scientists from government, academia and professional consultancy

With contributions from a wide array of economists, ecologists, and government agency professionals, this book provides a multidisciplinary approach to environmental decision-making at a watershed level. It provides introductions to the fields of ecological risk assessment (ERA) and economic analysis for the lay reader, and discusses their application to the practice of watershed management. It presents a general framework for the integration of ERA and economic analysis to improve environmental management in a diversity of watersheds.

With a practical focus on real-world decisions, this book describes studies conducted in six US watersheds where both ecological and economic analyses were needed. Decision contexts for these studies included negotiations to satisfy Endangered Species Act requirements, natural resource damage assessment, Clean Water Act permitting, and community development planning. Ecological endpoints in these cases included, for example, indices of stream biological integrity, habitat suitability for migratory birds, and fish deaths caused by water intake structures. Economic techniques employed included contingent valuation, conjoint analysis, game theory, habitat equivalency analysis, habitat replacement cost, and input-output analysis (coupled with land-use modeling and multicriteria decision analysis). The success of ecological-economic integration in each study, and the contribution to decision-making, is critically examined.