Proximity effects on willingness to pay for protection of biotic integrity in a Central Ohio stream

Loucks, O. L., Erekson, O. H., and Elliot, S. R. Depts. of Zoology and Economics, Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA.

To be presented at Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting
Madison, WI
Aug. 10. 2001

Big Darby Creek drains portions of six counties in central Ohio. Despite intensive agriculture, it presently supports good water quality and unique biodiversity, including 80 fish species and 70 mussel species, many endangered. However, suburban development from Columbus, just to the east, is spreading into the watershed, threatening the water quality and biological diversity. We used contingent valuation surveys (N=750) to investigate local versus distant residents willingness to pay to reduce the risk of degrading either stream water quality or the Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI). This paper reports first on how information about risks to IBI had to be structured in order to ask citizens about their willingness to pay to avoid degradation. We also structured the survey around four different land use development options. The results show the stream use value reported by local residents is about double the value (existence value) expressed by a distant sample population. However, all sample populations attached great value to preservation of farmland in this suburban landscape through a land use that clustered home development, allowing both urban growth and protection of biotic integrity (IBI).