Valuing Groundwater Recharge as an Attribute of Watershed Restoration: A Focus on Willingness to Pay for Project Attributes
Monday, February 26, 2018: 4:40 p.m.
Adrienne Soder
,
School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ
Abraham E. Springer, Ph.D.
,
School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ
Julie Mueller, Ph.D.
,
The W.A. Franke College of Business and School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ
A healthy watershed provides benefits to all its residents, including improvements in surface and groundwater quality and quantity, groundwater recharge, agricultural irrigation, recreation, and ecosystem services. Quantifying benefits received from a healthy watershed using market values has, in the past, been difficult. However, the largest landscape-level forest restoration project in the U.S., the Four Forests Restoration Initiative, is now providing an opportunity to quantify the values of watershed services affected by restoration. The purpose of this study is to estimate monetary values for attributes of watershed restoration projects to assist decision-makers with budget allocation when considering future restoration projects. This study focuses primarily on benefi ts offered to those residing in the Salt-Verde Watershed managed by Salt River Project (SRP), a major energy and water provider in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Values are obtained by utilizing nonmarket valuation, an economic method that allows estimation of monetary values of goods and services, such as groundwater recharge, not typically traded in a traditional market. We apply the Choice Experiment (CE) methodology of non-market valuation to survey residents of the Salt-Verde Watershed regarding their preferences for attributes of watershed restoration. We plan to use a mixed logit model to obtain marginal willingness to pay from the online survey results. The results are intended to directly inform SRP’s decision-making regarding restoration projects in semi-regions in Arizona.
Adrienne Soder, School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ
Adrienne Soder obtained a BS in Environmental Geology from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 2015. She is currently studying under Dr. Abraham Springer at Northern Arizona University. Adrienne is working towards her Master's degree in Environmental Science and Policy.
Abraham E. Springer, Ph.D., School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ
Abe Springer is a Professor of Geology in the School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability at Northern Arizona University. He received his B.A. in Geology from the College of Wooster and his M.S. and Ph.D. in hydrogeology from The Ohio State University. Since arriving at NAU in 1994, he has taught courses in hydrogeology, geology of Arizona, environmental geology, university colloquium and many others. Dr. Springer and his students study local and regional groundwater flow systems and human impacts on them.
Julie Mueller, Ph.D., The W.A. Franke College of Business and School of Earth Sciences and Environmental Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ
Dr. Mueller is an environmental economist specializing in the area of non-market valuation. Much of her work involves estimating values of watershed services from forest restoration in the arid Southwestern US. Dr. Mueller’s research goals are to use her econometric modeling and estimation skills to pursue rigorous interdisciplinary research that informs water policy.
