Benefit-cost analysis of water quality policy and criteria in the Delaware River
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21697013 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gerald J Kauffman (0000-0001-9831-3651, University of Delaware, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 313-327 |
| Publication date | 2020-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Water Policy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1366-7017 • E-ISSN: 1996-9759 |
| Publisher | IWA Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.2166/wp.2020.017 |
| OpenAlex | W3025454118 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 16 |
This research conducts a benefit-cost analysis of water policies to reach an optimal level of dissolved oxygen (DO) to meet year-round fishable water quality criteria in the Delaware River. A watershed pollutant load model is utilized to estimate marginal cost curves of water quality improvements to meet a more protective year-round fishable standard and annual benefits are defined to achieve future DO criteria in the Delaware River. The most cost-effective DO standard is 4.5 mg/L defined by the point where the marginal benefits of willingness to pay (WTP) for improved water quality equals the marginal costs of pollution reduction. This optimal criteria (4.5 mg/L) can be achieved at a cost of $150 million with benefits ranging from $250 to $700 million/year. While a future DO standard of 4.5 mg/L reflects an economically efficient level of water quality, this DO criteria is less protective than the level of 5–6 mg/L needed to protect anadromous fish such as the Atlantic sturgeon. The policy to reach a DO level of 6 mg/L (at 80% DO saturation) may be difficult to achieve at summer water temperatures that approach 30 °C in the Delaware River at Philadelphia
Cost–benefit analysis · Economics · Fish · Fish migration · Fishery · Marginal cost · Nonpoint source pollution · Point source pollution · Total maximum daily load · Water quality · Water resource management · Watershed · Willingness to pay · Computer Science · Economic and Environmental Valuation · Engineering · Environmental Science · Soil and Water Nutrient Dynamics · Water resources management and optimization · Ecology · Environmental Engineering · Pollution
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |