Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List


Pamela_Aracena_MSc_Thesis_2013.pdf (864.16 KB)

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Estimating Economic Benefits of Water Clarity to Downstream Lakes from Constructed Wetlands

Aracena, Pamela
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1366326478

Abstract Details

2013, Master of Science, Ohio State University, Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering.
Agricultural and urban runoff are leading causes of degraded water quality. Downstream water quality improvement technologies, such as constructed wetlands, are a proven method to address these non-point-sources of pollution. However, there is limited knowledge about the localized economic benefits due to improvement in water quality provided by these technologies. To address this gap in knowledge, changes in lake water clarity were modeled as a result of using constructed wetlands and the economic cost and benefits to adjacent neighborhoods were estimated. The objective was to provide information to policy makers and stakeholders as they consider the economic impacts of improvements in environmental quality. Using data from across 30 inland lakes in Ohio, a model was constructed to predict total phosphorus concentrations from Secchi disk measurement. This model accounted for 68% of the variability within the data, and thus was used to predict the required reductions in total phosphorus concentrations in each lake to produce a 10%, 20% 30%, and 50% increase in Secchi disk depth. Average desired total phosphorus concentrations for each lake were then used to estimate the necessary wetland size, and cost of construction and maintenance to achieve the percent increase in Secchi disk depth. Using Log-Linear and Log-Log 2010 neighborhood Willingness to Pay (WTP) values from a previous study by Irwin et. al. (2011), net economic gains for each lake neighborhood were estimated. Log-Log net economic gains were 22%, 35%, 55%, and 161% less than Log-Linear net gains for a 10, 20, 30, and 50 percent improvement in water clarity, respectively. However, average net economic gains became increasingly positive for both Log-Log WTP values and Log-Linear WTP values as percent improvement in water clarity increased from 10 to 50 percent. When the marginal water clarity benefits were compared with the total costs of the constructed wetlands, 12 lakes out of 24 had positive net economic gains when using the Log-Log neighborhood WTP, and 15 lakes out of 24 when using the Log-Linear neighborhood WTP for a 50% improvement in Secchi Disk depth. The amount of lakes with positive net economic gains increased with greater improvements in Secchi Disk depth. The lakes with positive net economic gains were predominately located in metropolitan areas with larger neighborhood willingness to pay estimates (>$1million). Their watersheds had less than 50% agricultural distribution and an average total annual watershed runoff volume of 3.8 million m3/year or less. Watersheds with larger runoff volumes and lower willingness to pay produced high total costs and negative net economic gains. Overall, the neighborhood willingness to pay for an improvement in water clarity accounted for 85%-133% (Log-Log) and 95%-145% (Log-Linear) of the total cost for the constructed wetlands. Accounting for additional benefits of constructed wetlands, such as wildlife habitat, recreation, and water storage, will further increase the economic benefits relative to the cost of the constructed wetlands.
Jay Martin, Dr. (Advisor)
Elena Irwin, Dr. (Committee Member)
57 p.
Ecology; Economics; Environmental Economics
water clarity; willingness to pay; constructed wetlands; economic benefits

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Aracena, P. (2013). Estimating Economic Benefits of Water Clarity to Downstream Lakes from Constructed Wetlands [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1366326478

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Aracena, Pamela. Estimating Economic Benefits of Water Clarity to Downstream Lakes from Constructed Wetlands. 2013. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1366326478.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Aracena, Pamela. "Estimating Economic Benefits of Water Clarity to Downstream Lakes from Constructed Wetlands." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1366326478

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1366326478
899
© 2013, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.