Tradeoffs among Ecosystem Services, Performance Certainty, and Cost-efficiency in Implementation of the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load

Lisa A. Wainger, George Van Houtven, Ross Loomis, Jay Messer, Robert Beach and Marion Deerhake

Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, 2013, vol. 42, issue 1, 196-224

Abstract: The cost-effectiveness of total maximum daily load (TMDL) programs depends heavily on program design. We develop an optimization framework to evaluate design choices for the TMDL for the Potomac River, a Chesapeake Bay sub-basin. Scenario results suggest that policies inhibiting nutrient trading or offsets between point and nonpoint sources increase compliance costs markedly and reduce ecosystem service co-benefits relative to a least-cost solution. Key decision tradeoffs highlighted by the analysis include whether agricultural production should be exchanged for low-cost pollution abatement and other environmental benefits and whether lower compliance costs and higher co-benefits provide adequate compensation for lower certainty of water-quality outcomes.

Date: 2013
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cup:agrerw:v:42:y:2013:i:01:p:196-224_00

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