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Gaining Ground: Wetlands, Hurricanes and the Economy; The Value of Restoring the Mississippi River Delta

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ABSTRACT
The Mississippi River Delta ecosystems provide at least $12-47 billion in benefits to people every year. If this natural capital were treated as an economic asset, the delta’s minimum asset value would be $330 billion to $1.3 trillion. This study is the most comprehensive measure of the economic value of Mississippi River Delta natural systems to date. Marine waters, wetlands, swamps, agricultural lands and forests provide natural goods and services. The goods and ecosystem services valued in this study include hurricane and flood protection, water supply, water quality, recreation and fisheries. The Mississippi River Delta is a vast natural asset, a basis for national employment and economic productivity. It was built by literally gaining ground: building land with sediment, fresh water and the energy of the Mississippi River. Yet, this vast national economic asset is being squandered at tremendous cost. The Mississippi Delta lost over 1.2 million acres of land in the last 80 years. In some areas, the coastline has retreated by as much as 30 miles. The lower Mississippi River has been constricted by levees since the 1930s, resulting in billions of tons of valuable sediment and trillions of gallons of valuable freshwater being channeled into deep water off the edge of the continental shelf. The Mississippi’s energy to move vast amounts of sediment and water could have built additional land and provided hurricane protection and other economic benefits at no significant cost. Without the input of sediment and water, wetland systems collapse. Land is lost to the waters of the Gulf of Mexico causing tremendous economic and human cost. Wetlands provide vital protection against hurricanes. When land disappears, so do the economies, homes and communities that depend on it. Solving this problem requires an accounting of and investment in the economic assets of nature – natural capital – as an integral component of hurricane damage prevention and as a critical foundation for healthy communities and economies. Is this national investment worthwhile during a period of financial crisis? The results of this report point to an unequivocal “yes.” Seventy years ago, investments in roads yielded high economic returns because the U.S. was transitioning from a horse and wagon road system to a motorized system. Today, roads are neither scarce nor a barrier for economic recovery. Hurricane protection is scarce and hurricanes hamper national economic productivity; the disruption of oil and gas supplies alone cost U.S. citizens dearly. Today, a major investment in natural capital is required for economic development. An investment in restoring the Mississippi River Delta is both a local and national investment that realizes local and national economic benefits. This report discusses the value of investing in the restoration of the Mississippi River Delta. Part I introduces a new view on the value of natural capital as a critical and large part of the economy. It also introduces ecosystem services and goods that directly benefit people but have historically been overlooked. Part II presents a valuation of ecosystem services in the Mississippi Delta, calculates their present value to assess the flow of value over time. Part III of this study examines the dramatic dynamic physical changes affecting the Mississippi River Delta and the profound economic implications for the region and our nation. Part IV examines three investment/restoration scenarios for the Mississippi Delta.

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CREATED August 23, 2010
ORGANIZATION Earth Economics
AUTHOR(S) Batker, David; de la Torre, Isabel; Costanza, Robert; Swedeen, Paula; Day, John; Boumans, Roelof; Bagstad, Kenneth;
LICENSE Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike Attribution Non-commercial Share Alike
DOI 10.3411/col.08230102 (What is DOI?)

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