Project Number: 3604-13000-009-16
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Sep 21, 2005
End Date: Sep 30, 2009

Objective:
The broad objectives of this cooperative research project are to conduct economic analysis of the benefits of conservation practice adoption in the Upper Big Walnut Creek Watershed in central Ohio. This will enhance and support the contributions of the ARS Soil Drainage Research Unit to the ARS Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP), Objective 4, which is to develop and apply policy-planning tools to aid selection and placement of conservation practices to optimize profits, environmental quality, and conservation program efficiency. Specific short term goals include: 1. Analysis of the benefits of water quality improvements in Recreational Use of streams in the Upper Big Walnut Creek Watershed, and in Hoover Reservoir. 2. Assess the Benefits and Costs of implementing conservation practices.

Approach:
The recreational study will estimate the benefits of angling and boating in the reservoir and several smaller streams that feed the reservoir. The estimates will provide information on the relative benefits of water quality improvements in different areas of the watershed. The travel cost method will be used to estimate recreational benefits. The study will survey central Ohio residents who are anglers and boat owners and determine their use value for recreation within this water. Anglers and boat owners are selected because there are specific groups known to be avid users of streams and lakes in Ohio for recreation. The cost benefit analysis will combine the benefits from the recreational use analysis with additional non-use value estimates of the benefits of water quality improvements with estimates of the costs of different types of practices that provide those benefits. The costs of the practices for the watershed will be based upon farm budgets for Ohio produced by the OSU Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics. These include budgets for different types of crops, as well as budgets for conservation practices like filter strips, riparian buffers, reductions in nutrient applications, etc. The effects of the different types of practices will be modeled using data from the existing CEAP monitoring stations located within the watershed. The current CEAP analysis will provide data on current nitrogen, phosphorus, sediment, and chemical loading characteristics of a number of different types of practices.