PUBLIC ATTITUDES IN MASSACHUSETTS TOWARD THE RECREATIONAL USE OF DOMESTIC WATER SUPPLY RESERVOIRS1

ABSTRACT: There is considerable controversy inthe Northeast surrounding the extent to whcih public drinking water reservoirs should be used for recreational purposes. This paper reports the results of two integrated studies of (1) recreation users of Quabbin Reservation, the largest inland water source in New England and (2) the general public of Massachusetts. Data were obtained by conducting on-site interviews of Quabbin users and through state-wide telephone interviews of the general public; both studies focused on assessing attitudes toward the recreational use of drinking water reservoirs in Massachusetts. Unlike the findings of a 1969 study conducted by Baumann, results showed that the majority of Massachusetts residents do not favor recreation-prohibiting laws for most activities. Most favored at least moderate use of reservoirs for recreational purposes. In addition, over all views were not as restrictive as present legislation would suggest. Finally, these findings suggest that current recreation-prohibiting laws should be reassessed in light of pugblic opinion which favors the use of these valuable resources.     

Impacts of changes in water quality on recreation behavior and benefits in Finland

The implementation of the European Union Water Framework Directive (WFD) requires nationally generalizable estimates of the benefits of protecting inland and coastal waters. As an alternative to benefit transfers and meta-analyses, we utilize national recreation inventory data combined with water quality data to model recreation participation and estimate the benefits of water quality improvements. Using hurdle models, we analyze the association of water clarity in individuals' home municipalities with the three most common water recreation activities – swimming, fishing and boating. The results show no effect on boating, but improved water clarity would increase the frequency of close-to-home swimming and fishing, as well as the number of fishers. Furthermore, to value the potential benefits of the WFD, we estimate the consumer surplus of a water recreation day using a travel cost approach. A water policy scenario with a 1-m improvement in water clarity for both inland and coastal waters indicates that the consumer surplus would increase 6% for swimmers and 15% for fishers. In contrast to previously estimated abatement costs to improve water quality, net benefits could turn out to be positive. Our study is a promising example of applying existing national recreation inventory data to estimate the benefits of water quality improvements for the purposes of the WFD.     

THE WATER RESOURCES COUNCIL'S PROPOSED PRINCIPLES AND STANDARDS - AN ECONOMIC COMMENT1

The way the Water Resources Council proposes to measure the beneficial effects of national economic development and recreation is questioned and alternatives suggested. In measuring the former, the assumptions specified by the Council are questioned because they do not hold true in the market place. In addition, the Council's method of simulating a price per recreation day implies that an arbitrary price be selected from a range and multiplied times the number of days at no charge for use of the facilities. It is contended that these procedures would over state the economic benefits which in the real market would be measured by the selected price times the quantity demanded at that price.     

Monetary assessment of the recreational benefits of improved water quality – description of a new model and a case study

The European Union Water Framework Directive (WFD) has created a demand for comparing the benefits and costs of the remedial measures. A major part of the benefits from improved water quality relate to the increased recreational value. However, there is a lack of easily operative and widely applicable quantitative methods to assess the benefits of improved water quality for recreational use. We present a new model to link physical indicators of water quality, water feasibility indicators for different recreational uses, individuals’ perceptions concerning the current feasibility of water for recreational purposes and monetary measures of water-related recreation benefits. The model has been applied to nine lakes, three rivers and one large coastal area in Finland. In this paper, we present the principles of the method and the results from one case study. In Finland, the method has been applied for the economic analysis required in the WFD.     

THE ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY OF DUAL PURPOSE NUCLEAR DESALINATION OF GROUND WATER1

ABSTRACT: The economic feasibility of a large scale dual purpose (desalting water and power production) facility were evaluated. Although a site in the Tularosa basin of southern New Mexico was chosen as a case study for this analysis, it is believed that the approach and consequential results would be applicable to alternative sites in the Southwest. The basic project evaluated included: a) a ground water well field; b) a dual purpose, nuclear, desalination plant; c) a mineral recovery plant; and d) a reservoir for recreation and irrigation storage. Principle project outputs included electrical power, minerals, recreation, and water for either irrigated agricultural production or export to an adjoining river basin. Two alternative project designs were developed for detailed analysis. The first alternative encompassed all major project components. The results, in discounted net values used to assess the feasibility of the project, were essentially negative; that is, values were less than zero for full scale development. The net benefits ranged from $-986.57 million at a 5 percent discount rate, to $-1,137.528 million at a discount rate of 10 percent. In the second alternative, exportation of the desalted water from the Tularosa basin to two adjacent rivers was analyzed with somewhat better net benefits, ranging from $-382,527 million to $-478,612 million at the 5 and 10 percent discount rates.     

MEASURING THE SITE-SPECIFIC RECREATION BENEFITS RESULTING FROM IMPROVED WATER QUALITY: AN UPPER BOUND APPROACH1

The estimation of the value of recreation benefits resulting from improved water quality is required for many purposes. In particular, the Water Pollution Control Act of 1980 requires the consideration of the reasonableness of costs of reducing water pollution in relation to benefits to be derived from establishing effluent standards (Clean Water Act of 1977). Recreation is often the most important benefit resulting from water quality improvement. Current methods used to calculate recreation benefits are either not site-specific or are expensive and controversial. This paper presents a relatively simple, inexpensive, and less controversial method of calculating site-specific recreation benefits resulting from improved water quality. It does this by producing an upper bound estimate which often is adequate for the relevant decision. The upper bound estimates is based on two assumptions: 1) there are alternative equivalent substitute sites for the newly augmented water quality site, and 2) the new augmented recreation opportunities at the site will be used to their maximum supply capacity. Clearly, if an upper bound benefit estimate in a cost-benefit ratio does not produce a favorable ratio, no other benefit estimate will. In cases where this estimate produces an ambiguous result resort must be had to other more precise methods of estimation.     

FOCUSED AND DIFFUSE PATTERNS OF AQUATIC RECREATION BEHAVIOR1

ABSTRACT: Recreation behavior can be examined by identifying characteristics of participants, activities, and places. Two distinct houschold types (social groups) were examined relative to their participation in water based recreation: households whose participation occurs exclusively in water based recreation, and those reporting participation in both water and nonwater activities. These households were compared in terms of preference for and specialization in water recreation, the relationship of water activity selected and resource (place) preference and intensity of participation in water activities. Attention by managers, planners, and social scientists to the interplay of participant group, activity, and place upon behavioral outcomes is important to the future development of recreation opportunities. It is one thing to design a facility for water based recreation; it is another to design a facility knowing the behavioral outcomes occurring and how they will be affected. Similarly, to implement a management strategy without knowing how behavior of participants will be modified as a result of the strategy can lead to failure of the management objective.     

IMPACTS OF WATER QUALITY IMPROVEMENT ON SITE VISITATION: A PROBABILISTIC MODELING APPROACH1

ABSTRACT: The influence of perceptions of water quality on the likelihood of recreating at a particular recreation site is investigated using a logit model. The model is estimated for St. Albans Bay, Vermont. A hypothetical improvement in water quality was shown to greatly increase the probability of at least one visit to the bay during a season. This implies that many recreationists who do not use the bay at present will do so if water quality improves. A demand model for predicting site visitation must, therefore, include current nonusers in the sample. Failure to do so would result in misleading predictions about future demand for the bay.     

RECREATION AT DRINKING WATER RESERVOIRS IN MASSACHUSETTS: A SURVEY OF WATER MANAGERS1

The purpose of this study was to identify attitudes toward the recreational use of drinking water reservoirs in Massachusetts among municipal water supply managers in the state. Compared to the findings of recent studies assessing the attitudes of the general public, water officials were found to advocate highly restrictive views. No officials said that recreation was an insignificant source of water supply pollution; however, opinions were not found to be related to respondents' exposure to the literature on the topic. The majority were not, in fact, familiar with the literature assessing the impact of recreation on water supply reservoirs.     

Heterogeneous preferences for recreation-oriented management in commercial forests: the role of citizens’ socioeconomic characteristics and recreational profiles

The management of forests for multiple benefits, such as recreational services alongside timber production, can greatly benefit from the knowledge of public preferences for management-related forest attributes. This paper investigates citizens’ recreational use and preferences for recreation-oriented management in the case of state-owned commercial forests in Finland using data from a choice experiment study. We focus on attributes related to the typical management practices applied to enhance recreation: scenic buffer zones along waters, game bird habitats, and the quality of scenery along hiking trails. Recreational use and its frequency were found to be related to citizens’ background and specific outdoor activities. The scenic buffer zones were the most important attribute to the citizens. While the recreation-enhancing practices were generally valued, respondent segments with distinct preferences were found. Preference heterogeneity was related to citizens’ socioeconomic characteristics and recreational profiles.     

ESTIMATING THE PUBLIC'S VALUES FOR INSTREAM FLOW: ECONOMIC TECHNIQUES AND DOLLAR VALUES1

ABSTRACT: Sound water resource management requires comparison of benefits and costs. Many of the perceived benefits of water relate to providing instream flow for recreation and endangered fish. These uses have value but no prices to guide resource allocation. Techniques to estimate the dollar values of environmental benefits are presented and illustrated with several case studies. The results of the case studies show that emphasis on minimum instream flow allocates far less than the economically optimum amount of water to instream uses. Studies in Idaho demonstrated that optimum flows that balance benefits and costs can be ten times greater than minimum flows. The economic benefits of preserving public trust resources outweighed the replacement cost of water and power by a factor of fifty in California. While it is important to incorporate public preferences in water resource management, these economic survey techniques provide water managers with information not just on preference but how much the public is willing to pay for as well. This facilitates comparison of the public costs and benefits of instream flows.     

INTEGRATED RIVER BASIN OPTIMIZATION: MODELING ECONOMIC AND HYDROLOGIC INTERDEPENDENCE1

ABSTRACT: This paper presents an integrated optimal control model that optimizes economic performance of reservoir management in watersheds in which there are significant economic and hydrologic interdependencies. The model is solved using the General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS). Results show that application of this model to New Mexico's Rio Chama basin can increase total system benefits over historical benefits by exploiting complementarities between hydroelectricity production, instream recreation, and downstream lake recreation.     

A METHODOLOGY FOR EVALUATING DEVELOPMENT-ENVIRONMENTAL CONFLICTS ON WILD AND SCENIC RIVERS1

ABSTRACT: A methodology is developed for examining the environmental and developmental conflicts inherent in the classification process of a wild river. The Salmon River in Idaho is used as an example of the methodology. The steps were: 1. a resource inventory, 2. an evaluation methodology, and 3. an economic comparison of resource use tradeoffs. Alternatives for the Salmon were examined, following generally the procedures outlined in the United States Water Resources Council's Establishment of Principles and Standards for Planning Water and Related Land Resources Final comparisons showed that hydroelectric development had greater net benefits than outdoor recreation at up to a three percent recreation growth rate. When recreation use grew at a faster rate, recreation had a considerable margin of net benefits in its favor.     

WATER QUALITY PERCEPTION BY USERS: CAN IT SUPPLEMENT OBJECTIVE WATER QUALITY MEASURES?1

ABSTRACT: Personal interviews were conducted with eighty campers in each of three Minnesota state parks to investigate the water quality perception of the recreationist. At the same time, water quality factors were measured or observed as an indication of conditions experienced by the interviewees. Most respondents perceived water pollution strictly on a visual basis. Sewage, public carelessness, industry, and farm fertilizers were “first choice selections” among major causes of water pollution in Minnesota. Seventy percent felt their recreational activities did not contribute to water pollution. Sixty-two percent said their life had not been affected by water pollution, while over two-thirds of the remaining thirty-eight percent listed curtailment of recreation as the primary result. Many mentioned an algal bloom at one park and the strong odor of rotten fish at a second park. On the basis of the senior author's observations, supported by the measurements taken, it was concluded that thèk were the only major problems in the three parks. Some incipient problems, such as nutrient enrichment and the presence of coliform bacteria, were indicated by the measurements. The type and degree of pollution identified by the recreationist could be important through its influence on user evaluations and space preferences. The establishment of relationships between water quality parameters and the perception of the recreationist will provide the manager with a tool to assist in evaluating participation in water-related outdoor recreation in terms of both user satisfaction and water quality.     

IDENTIFICATION AND ANALYSIS OF OUTDOOR RECREATION HABITATS: THE RECREATION HABITAT ANALYSIS METHOD1

ABSTRACT: This paper describes a concept for identification and ranking of outdoor recreation habitats using principles of ecology as a guide. The Habitat Evaluation Procedures (HEP) is a commonly used technique for assessment of human impacts on the vigor of wildlife species, and serves as the model for the Recreation Habitat Analysis Method (RHAM). Recreation activities are dependent on habitat attributes for their success just as are wildlife species. A sample model is described for recreation activities at large, multipurpose lakes. RHAM could be applied to recreation experiences in a variety of settings including smaller water bodies and riparian and terrestrial ecosystems.     

Wildfire effects on hiking and biking demand in New Mexico: a travel cost study

We use a travel cost model to test the effects of wild and prescribed fire on visitation by hikers and mountain bikers in New Mexico. Our results indicate that net benefits for mountain bikers is $150 per trip and that they take an average of 6.2 trips per year. Hikers take 2.8 trips per year with individual net benefits per trip of $130. Both hikers' and mountain bikers' demand functions react adversely to prescribed burning. Net benefits for both groups fall as areas recover from prescribed burns. Because both visitation and annual recreation benefits decrease to these two types of visitors, this gives rise to multiple use costs associated with prescribed burning. With respect to wildfire, hikers and mountain bikers both exhibit decreased visitation as areas recover from wildfires, however, only hikers indicate an increase in per trip net benefits. Bikers' demand effectively drops to zero. These results differ from previous findings in the literature and have implications for efficient implementation of the National Fire Plan and whether prescribed burning is a cost effective tool for multiple use management of National Forests. Specifically, that fire and recreation managers cannot expect recreation users to react similarly to fire across recreation activities, or different geographic regions. What is cost effective in one region may not be so in another.     

Agricultural and recreational impacts of the conservation reserve program in rural North Dakota, USA

The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), created in 1985, provides conservation benefits and agricultural supply control through voluntary, long-term retirement of crop land. While the effects of the CRP on the agricultural sector are well understood, the implications of its conservation benefits for rural economies remain largely undocumented. To quantify the effects on rural economies, this study addressed the net economic effects of decreased agricultural activity and increased recreational activity associated with the CRP in six rural areas of North Dakota from 1996 to 2000. Based on the level of economic activity that would have occurred in the absence of the program, net revenues from CRP land if returned to agricultural production in the six study areas were estimated at $50.2 million annually or $37 per acre of land currently enrolled in the CRP. Recreational (hunting) revenues as a result of the CRP in the study areas were estimated at $12.8 million annually or $9.45 per CRP-acre. The net economic effect of the CRP (lost agricultural revenues and gains in recreational expenditures) indicated that several areas of the state are not as economically burdened by the CRP as previous research has suggested. In addition, the net economic effects of the program would appear more favourable if revenues from all CRP-based recreation were included. The degree that recreational revenues offset agricultural losses might be further enhanced by enterprises that capitalize on the economic opportunities associated with expanded recreational activities on CRP lands.     

RECREATIONAL ENHANCEMENT OF HIGH COUNTRY WATER SUPPLY RESERVOIRS1

ABSTRACT: There is considerable misconception about the dangers of opening to a recreating public in great need of additional open areas. A systematic procedure for identifying the factors essential to the selectio, planning, and management of reservoirs for recreation is described. A detailed case study conducted by an interdisciplinary project team is presented to demonstrate the feasibility fo maintaining storage levels in recreation-conductive high country reseroirs without unduly injuring downstram water users. The idea is to trade water with reservoirs having less recreation potential. The optimal means of doing this is found via a river basin simulation model with quasi-optimizing capability. Results of the case study show that this strategy is indeed feasible. Applicable to other areas may require analysis of tradeoffs if at least some damage to downstream users is unavoidable.     

THE DEVELOPMENT OF A COMBINED WATER QUALITY INDEX1

ABSTRACT: Use-oriented benefits and treatment costs analysis has been incorporated into a water quality index to show an economically optimized concentration for the treatment of the pollutants and the resulting water quality. This combined water quality index can be used in decisionmaking at the federal and local government levels. Five major pollutants, i.e., coliforms, nitrogen, phosphorus, suspended solids, and detergent, have been considered for the municipal waste water. With each higher level of improvement the treatment costs increase accordingly and the benefits associated with the reuse of this treated waste water will increase too but not for the nutrient removal in agricultural use. The optimal concentration is determined when the marginal costs equal the marginal benefits. The combined water quality index is the combination of the maximum net benefits and the water quality index of the optimized residual concentrations. This water quality index is zero dollars for the Tucson region in this study. The possible reclaimed use of municipal waste water is for agricultural irrigation and recreational lakes for the Tucson region.     

COMPARING TWO MEASURES OF WATER BASED RECREATION PARTICIPATION1

ABSTRACT: Site specific studies of water based recreation participation are intended to describe use at a particular recreation area. Two common strategies employed in site specific studies are the on-site “entry” or “exit” survey and the off-site mailed questionnaire to known users of an area. Previous research has reported differences in psychological perceptions of a recreation engagement depending on whether a survey was administered during or after a trip. If such bias exists for behavioral reports, then managers and planners must be cautious in interpreting results of survey based use assessments for a particular site. Findings may be affected by the particular survey strategy employed. In this study, entry point and post-trip mailed questionnaire measures of water based recreation participation were compared for a sample of reservoir users. For most activities, a high degree of consistency in measures was found. Inconsistent reports were most likely to occur among participants in activities sharing significant common behaviors, such as power boating and water skiing. Inconsistency was also observed for those reporting very generalized behaviors, such as relaxing. In general, the use of either pre- or post-trip measures of water based recreation participation was supported.