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Framing
of a Contingent Valuation Study.
O.H. Erekson, O.L. Loucks, S.R. Elliott, D.S. McCollum, and Randy
Bruins. Presented at Chevy Chase, MD, 1/01
Abstract: Ecological
risk assessment is an approach that has been used by the U.S. EPA
for analyzing the likelihood of adverse effects on watershed endpoints
(such as the Index of Biotic Integrity). The objective of the larger
project described in this paper is to quantify the monetary values
that stakeholders associate with biotic integrity. We frame the
valuation in terms of ecological factors that change as residential
development takes place. These include nutrient, sediment, and toxin
inputs, and changing flow patterns. These factors, as well as economic
and social factors, vary across four hypothetical development scenarios.
We establish a methodology to link valuation of alternative development
scenarios to associated changes in relevant ecological, economic,
and social factors, and, in turn the likelihood of adverse effects
on endpoints, such as the IBI. The models we use implicitly compare
the costs of mitigating risk arising from residential development,
as evaluated by a large sample of stakeholders, and can serve as
tools that inform the public and decision-maker choices. The methodology
brings together the characterization of physical and biological
risks in a watershed so that contingent valuation methods can quantify
the monetary value associated with biotic integrity endpoints.
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