Paper Number: EE-0423

Document Date: 07/01/1999

Author(s):  Environmental Law Institute

Subject Area(s):

Economic Analysis,  Water Quality Benefits, Integrated Environmental Modeling, Ecosystem Valuation, Watershed Management, Stated Preference Surveys

Keywords: Economic Analysis,  Water Quality Benefits, Integrated Environmental Modeling, Ecosystem Valuation, Watershed Management, Stated Preference Surveys

Summary: 

The purpose of the Environmental Policy and Economics Workshop Series is to hold in-depth workshops on timely topics that will further the use of economics as a tool for environmental decision making. Both NSF/EPA grant recipients and researchers (from EPA, fellow Federal agencies, academia, and others) will be invited to attend and discuss their on-going research. Topics are chosen based on relevance to current EPA issues and, more broadly, to issues of concern to the environmental economics community. These topics include exploration of innovations in economic research methods as well as how research will further environmental policy making and future environmental economic studies.

This report represents the proceedings of the third workshop of this series. This two-day workshop was dedicated to exploring issues surrounding water use and watershed management. The first session concerned a specific case study of the Snake River economic study currently underway by the Army Corps of Engineers and several other participating Federal agencies. The next three sessions - "Integrating Economic and Physical Models in Water and Watershed Research," "Methods for Measuring Stakeholder Values of Water Quality and Watershed Protection," and "Applications of Stakeholder Valuation Techniques for Water and Watersheds" - considered economic methods and research areas employed by researchers who are more generally studying water use and/or watershed management.

The Workshop included the following papers (please scroll down for link to download proceedings):

Introductory Remarks by Chuck Clarke, Administrator, US EPA Region 10 – Summarization.

Introductory Remarks by Bill O'Neil, US EPA Office of Economy and the Environment – Summarization.

Session I: A Case Study of Watershed Management: The Snake River Watershed

• Presentation by Dennis Wagner, US Army Corps of Engineers, Northwestern Division, and Chair, Drawdown Regional Economics Workgroup – Summarization.
• Presentation by Audrey Perino, Bonneville Power Administration – Summarization.
• Presentation by Phil Benge, US Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District – Summarization.
• Presentation by Gary Ellis, US Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District – Summarization.
• Presentation by Phil Meyer, Meyer Resources, Inc. – Summarization.

Session 2: Integrating Economic and Physical Models in Water and Watershed Research

• Adoption of Soil and Water Protection Practices Among Land Owner-Operators in Three Midwest Watersheds, by Ted L. Napier and Mark Tucker, The Ohio State University.
• A National Water Pollution Control Assessment Model (NWPCAM), by Timothy Bondelid, Research Triangle Institute; Charles Griffiths, US EPA Office of Economy and Environment; and George Van Houtven, Research Triangle Institute.
• Water Marketing & Instream Flow Enhancement in the Yakima River Basin, by Tracey Yerxa, US Bureau of Reclamation.
• Discussion of Napier and Tucker, and Bondelid, Griffiths and Van Houtven papers. By Scott Farrow, Carnegie Mellon University.
• Discussion of Yerxa paper. By Bill O’Neil, US EPA Office of Economy and Environment.
• Question and Answer Session.

Session 3: Methods for Measuring Stakeholder Values of Water Quality and Watershed Protection

• Measuring the Total Economic Value of Restoring Ecosystem Service in an Impaired River Basin: Results from a Contingent Valuation Method Survey, by John Loomis, Paula Kent, Liz Strange, Alan Covich, and Kurt Fausch, Colorado State University.
• Numbers, Values, and Decisions: Using Constructed Preference Approaches to Value Watershed Management Policies, by Robing Gregory, Decision Research.
• Alternatives to Traditional CVM in Environmental Valuation: Applied Research Challenges, by Trina Wellman, Battelle Seattle Research Center; and Robin Gregory, Decision Research.
• Discussion of Loomis paper. By Linda Fernandez, University of California, Santa Barbara.
• Discussion of Gregory papers. By Patricia Koss, Portland State University.
• Question and Answer Session.

Session 4: Applications of Stakeholder Valuation Techniques for Water and Watersheds

• A Protocol for the Elicitation of Stakeholders’ Concerns and Preferences for Incorporation into Policy Dialogue, Will Focht, Todd DeShong, John Wood, and Katera Whitaker, Oklahoma State University.
• Are Bureaucrats and Scientists Members of Advocacy Coalitions? Evidence from an Intergovernmental Water Policy Subsystem, Paul Sabatier and Matthew Zafonte, University of California, Davis.
• Economic and Environmental Tradeoffs at the Watershed Scale: Costs of Stream Temperature Reductions, Sian Mooney, Montana State University—Bozeman, and Ludwig M. Eisgruber, Oregon State University.
• Discussion of Focht, et al and Sabatier and Zafonte papers. By John Tanaka, Oregon State University.
• Discussion of Mooney and Eisgruber paper. By Charles Griffiths, US EPA Office of Economy and Environment.
• Question and Answer Session.

This workshop is part of the Environmental Policy and Economics Workshop Series.

• Economic Research and Policy Concerning Water Use and Management (1999) (PDF)(254 pp, 1 MB, 07/01/1999, EE-0423)
  First session on specific case study of the Snake River economic study currently underway by the Army Corps of Engineers and several other participating Federal agencies. Next three sessions - "Integrating Economic & Physical Models in Water & Watershed Research," "Methods for Measuring Stakeholder Values of Water Quality & Watershed Protection," and "Applications of Stakeholder Valuation Techniques for Water and Watersheds" - considered economic methods and research studying water use and mgmt