LINKING VALUATION AND FISH POPULATION MODELS FOR ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
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Protection of water quality and aquatic habitat is a priority for water managers, policy makers, environmental organizations, and private citizens. Planning, prioritization, and policymaking for water quality and aquatic habitat improvements often require consideration of the monetary costs and social benefits that may arise as a consequence of restoration and policy implementations. These benefits may arise directly from meeting targetted endpoints resulting from a program or indirectly as the result of connections and secondary effects from meeting the targeted goal. Such indirect benefits are also called co-benefits and can represent a large proportion of overall benefits derived from policy actions. In this presentation, we describe our approach to characterizing and quantifying economic benefits associated with salmon recovery that is linked to targetted water quality and aquatic habitat improvements. We characterize salmon recovery as a key co-benefit of water quality and habitat restoration programs. We also highlight key points to creating a conceptual and empirical bridge linking improvements in water quality and habitat to salmon population recovery. We provide examples within each of these connectionsand identify key gaps and challenges. While salmon population recovery falls primarily under the purview of the Endangered Species Act, this work highlights the need for coordinated efforts between regulatory bodies that each separately regulate or manage ecological components that are key to salmon recovery. Without such coordination the likelihood of cost-effective or efficient policy is more difficult.