A WATER QUALITY STRATEGY FOR THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER BASIN AND THE GULF OF MEXICO

Nutrient pollution, now the leading cause of water quality impairment in the United States, has had significant impact on the nation's waterways. Excessive nutrient pollution has been linked to habitat loss, fish kills, blooms of toxic algae, and hypoxia (oxygen depleted water). The hypoxic 'dead zone' in the Gulf of Mexico is one of the most striking illustrations of what can happen when too many nutrients from inland watersheds reach coastal areas. Despite the efforts of municipal building programs, industrial wastewater requirements and agricultural programs designed to reduce sediment loads in waterways, water quality and nutrient pollution continues to be a problem. We undertook a policy analysis to assess how the agricultural community could better reduce its contribution to the 'dead zone' and also evaluate the synergistic impacts of these policies on other environmental concerns like climate change. Using a sectoral model of U.S. agriculture, we compared policies including untargeted conservation subsidies, nutrient trading, Conservation Reserve Program extension, agricultural sales of carbon and greenhouse gas credits and fertilizer reduction. This economic and environmental analysis is watershed based, primarily focusing on nitrogen in the Mississippi River basin, allowing us to assess the distribution of nitrogen reduction in streams, environmental co-benefits and impact on agricultural cash flows within the Mississippi River basin from various options. The model incorporates natural resource accounts and alternative production practices, making it possible to get a more a complete picture of the costs and co-benefits of nutrient reduction. These elements also help to identify those policy options that minimize the costs to the farmers and maximize benefits to society.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Coastal Capital -- Economic Valuation of Coral Reefs in Tobago and St. Lucia

Presents findings on the economic benefits of coral reefs to the local economies of Tobago and St. Lucia, using a new, broadly applicable methodology that focuses on benefits to tourism, fisheries, and shoreline protection. Includes policy applications

Water Quality Trading Programs: An International Overview

Explains water quality trading, in which nutrient discharges in waterways are capped and high polluters can purchase pollution discharge credits from others. Compares programs and discusses program design, costs, elements of success, and lessons learned

Enhancing the tax system to halt the decline of nature in New Zealand

New Zealand is world-renowned for its nature – its lush forests, spectacular mountain landscapes, wild and scenic rivers, beautiful coastlines and extraordinary biodiversity.  This natural heritage is the foundation of New Zealand’s identity and its branding, and the premier attraction for the tourism industry. It provides habitable environments, contributes to economic production and assimilates wastes, and is an important source of great enjoyment, health and well-being (Roberts et al., 2015). Nature contributes to the success of the nation’s fishing, farming, forestry and tourism industries, which provide about 52% of national export income (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, 2013). But these values and the well-being and prosperity they enable are being diminished and degraded  at an alarming rate.&nbsp

The Value of Inherent Soil Characteristics: A Hedonic Analysis

In an attempt to value soil natural capital, we use the inherent characteristics of soil and land valuation data to examine the relationship between soil characteristics and rural farmland values in the 6000ks2 Manawatu catchment in New Zealand. The study applies a hedonic pricing method to determine if the value of ‘critical’ inherent characteristics of soils are reflected in land values. We find empirical evidence that the examined characteristics of soil natural capital stock, e.g., particle size, drainage, potential rooting depth and profile available water, are in fact reflected in rural land values.Natural capital, soil characteristics, value of soil, hedonic prices, rural land value, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Land Economics/Use,

Predicting willingness to be vaccinated for Covid-19: Evidence from New Zealand

Governments around the world are seeking to slow the spread of Covid-19 and reduce hospitalisations by encouraging mass vaccinations for Covid-19. The success of this policy depends on most of the population accepting the vaccine and then being vaccinated. Under standing and predicting the motivation of individuals to be vaccinated is, therefore, critical in assessing the likely effectiveness of a mass vaccination programme in slowing the spread of the virus. In this paper we draw on the I3 Response Framework to understand and predict the willingness of New Zealanders to be vaccinated for Covid-19. The Framework differs from most studies predicting willingness to be vaccinated because it is based on the idea
 that the willingness to adopt a behaviour depends on both involvement (a measure of motivational strength) with the behaviour and attitudes towards the behaviour. We show that predictions of individuals' willingness to be vaccinated are improved using involvement and attitudes together, compared to attitudes alone. This result has important implications for the implementation of mass vaccination programmes for Covid-19

Compliance with Covid-19 measures: Evidence from New Zealand

Governments around the world are seeking to slow the spread of Covid-19 by implementing measures that encourage, or mandate, changes in people's behaviour. These changes include the wearing of face masks, social distancing, and testing and self-isolating when unwell. The success of these measures depends on the commitment of individuals to change their behaviour accordingly. Understanding and predicting the motivation of individuals to change their behaviour is therefore critical in assessing the likely effectiveness of these measures in slowing the spread of the virus. In this paper we draw on a novel framework, the I3 Compliance Response Framework, to understand and predict the motivation of residents in Auckland, New Zealand, to comply with measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The Framework is based on two concepts. The first uses the involvement construct to predict the motivation of individuals to comply. The second separates the influence of the policy measure from the influence of the policy outcome on the motivation of individuals to comply. In short, the Framework differentiates between the strength of individuals' motivation and their beliefs about the advantages and disadvantages of policy outcomes and policy measures. We found this differentiation was useful in predicting an individual's possible behavioural responses to a measure and discuss how it could assist government agencies to develop strategies to enhance compliance

Evaluating water quality regulation as a driver of farmer behavior: A social-ecological systems approach

Water quality policy for agricultural lands seeks to improve water quality by changing farmer behavior. We investigate farmer behavior in three water quality regimes that differ by rule structure to examine the fit and interplay of each policy within its social-ecological context, important aspects for improving water quality. Vermont, USA’s practice-based policy requires the adoption of specific practices, whereas New Zealand’s Lake Taupo and Lake Rotorua performance-based policies require farmers to meet a numeric limit for nutrient loss on their farm. Across the three regions we interviewed 38 farmers to elicit mental models of nutrient management changes. We utilized the social-ecological systems (SES) framework to guide mental model elicitation, drawing on farmers’ perceptions of the SES to identify salient aspects for behavior. Mental models were grouped by region and analyzed using network analysis. Farmers in all regions self-report high levels of behavior change and cite the policies as key drivers of behavior. This suggests that each policy fits in that it is achieving desired behavior change. However, different behavioral patterns emerged across the regions that we hypothesize have implications for biophysical fit: structural changes dominate in Vermont (e.g., buffers) and system changes in Taupo (e.g., switch from dairy support to beef cattle). The interplay of the policy in each setting, such as with incentive programs in Vermont and a market for nitrogen in Taupo, contributed to the different behavioral patterns. Additionally, access to capital in some form is required for farmers to achieve changes associated with higher biophysical fit. The social fit of the policies also varied, evidenced by dramatic upheaval in Taupo to mostly neutral perceptions of the policy in Vermont. We conclude that regions considering a shift to water quality rules for farms should carefully consider behavioral dynamics in policy design to achieve water quality goals

Locally managed marine areas: implications for socio - economic impacts in Kadavu, Fiji

Marine protected areas (MPAs) are a widely used marine conservation tool designed to preserve marine biodiversity and improve fisheries management. Although the environmental benefits of MPAs are well established, evaluating the social and economic impacts of MPAs is challenging. In this paper we quantitatively identify the economic and social differences between communities based on whether or not the community has a tabu area in their local fishing ground. This is an area permanently closed to fishing within a locally managed marine area (LMMA), a form of MPA in the Pacific region. To do this we analyse survey data at both the household and village level in Kadavu, an administrative province of Fiji. We find there are differences in economic activity and diet between the communities but little difference in overall income and wealth. Our study shows that villages with an active tabu area have more positive social outcomes in terms of perceptions of LMMAs. However, there are some notable negative social outcomes as well. In particular, we find that households not engaged in commercial fishing perceive conflict around the management of marine resources. We also find that households engaged in commercial fishing believe penalties for violating LMMA rules are high. Together, these results could potentially impede the adoption of LMMAs and tabu areas. Overall, our survey results do not indicate that tabu areas are detrimental or beneficial on the whole, either economically and socially

Designing fit-for-purpose indicators to connect nature and people’s well-being in New Zealand

Recognizing the value of nature for people’s wellbeing is key to ensuring protection of the environment for current and future generations. However, data to demonstrate the connection between nature and wellbeing, are needed for environmental reporting, to inform policy development and evaluate progress toward outcomes. While many indicators exist, they are mostly derived from available data collected for other purposes and there is limited, if any, description of how these indicators were designed. Based on a conceptualization of nature–well-being connections, we propose a participatory process to identify fit-for-purpose indicators linking nature to human wellbeing. The process uses a series of targeted questions to explore how different aspects of wellbeing rely on nature, enabling more fitting indicators to be identified by the participatory group. The process was refined and tested in workshops with stakeholders in a New Zealand context