Study shows the importance of coastal water quality to recreational beach users
Thursday, March 30, 2017 - 07:21
in Earth & Climate
Coasts around the world are threatened by land-based pollutants, including sewage, which affect water quality, coastal habitats and human experiences. To capture the value people place on the coastal environment, UH ecological economist Kirsten L.L. Oleson and former MS student Marcus Peng recently published a study in the journal Ecological Economics. Titled "Beach Recreationalists' Willingness to Pay and Economic Implications of Coastal Water Quality Problems in Hawaiʻi," the study found that improvements in coastal environmental conditions could result in large benefits for beach users on Oʻahu, in some cases valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars. This could justify increased spending on management and restoration.