BENEFITS OF HEALTHY WATERSHEDS Ecosystem Benefits and Services Healthy watersheds provide many ecosystem services including, but not limited to: nutrient cycling, carbon storage, erosion/ sedimentation control, increased biodiversity, soil formation, wildlife movement corridors, water storage, water filtration, flood control, food, timber and recreation, as well as reduced vulnerability to invasive species, the effects of climate change and other natural disasters. These goods and services are essential to our social, environmental and economic well-being. The wide array of critical ecosystem services provided by healthy watersheds is frequently undervalued when making land use decisions. Due to the complexity of natural systems and economic precedents, it is difficult to assign a dollar amount to a particular ecosystem service. However, there is a large body of research and evidence to support the fact that intact healthy ecosystems avoid costly restoration and ecosystem service replacement, and provide long-term economic opportunities and jobs. Some healthy watershed ecosystem services include: •
Improved water quality. Natural landscapes and floodplains filter pollutants from point and nonpoint sources, promote nutrient cycling, and help retain sediment. • Carbon storage opportunities. Watersheds with intact natural land cover and soil resources are capable of sequestering carbon, thereby offsetting greenhouse gas emissions (Hanson et al., 2010). • Increased resilience in the face of climate change threats. Intact floodplains and riparian areas enable healthy watersheds to be better adapted to more extreme weather patterns and changes in precipitation associated with climate change. • Reduced risk for invasive species colonization. Naturally functioning ecosystems are more resilient and can favor
indigenous species, helping them outcompete invasive species.
Economic Benefits Protecting healthy watersheds can reduce capital costs for water treatment plants and reduce damages to property and infrastructure due to flooding, thereby avoiding future costs. Additionally, protecting healthy watersheds an generate revenue through property value premiums, recreation and tourism: • Increased property values. Housing near healthy watersheds has higher prop• Reduced drinking water treatment erty values than those in or around deand infrastructure costs. Natural landgraded ecosystems and impaired waters scapes filter pollutants and protect water (Maine DEP, 2005). quality. A review of treatment costs and watershed characteristics for 27 drinking Physical and Mental water utilities found that for every 10% Health Benefits increase in forest cover of the source water area, chemical and treatment costs • Lower rates of illness. Workplaces with decrease by 20% (Ernst, 2004). In a sepviews of green space have employees arate case, New York City found it sigwho report fewer incidences of illness nificantly more cost-effective to protect (Kaplan, 1989). Hospital patients that the watershed’s natural land cover and can experience natural scenery experiforests to provide natural filtration, rather ence shorter post-operative stays and than installing a multi-billion dollar wafewer post-operative complications, and ter treatment facility (Barnes et al., take less pain medication (Ulrich, 1984). 2009). • Decreased stress and Improved cogni• Reduced flood mitigation tive development. Students have been costs. Floodplains and natural landscapes shown to have lower stress levels and minimize the area and impacts of floods, reduced levels of attention deficit disorreduce the burden on public drainage inder when they are exposed to green spacfrastructure and increase groundwater es (Wells, 2000). recharge (Postel and Richter, 2003). Higher likelihood to exercise. People are • Increased revenues and job opportunities. Healthy watersheds provide ample more likely to exercise if they have easy acopportunities for fishing, boating, swim- cess to recreation areas like parks, trails, greenways, and forests. People who exercise ming, hiking, biking, wildlife viewing and ecotourism. Over 30 million people regularly are generally healthier, have fewer in the U.S. fish recreationally and these insurance claims and spend less time in hosanglers generate approximately 1 million pitals, thus their societal health care costs jobs and over $45 billion in retail sales annually (Southwick Associates, 2008). are lower (US NPS, 1995). Overall, the outdoor recreation industry contributes $646 billion annually to the economy, supports 6.1 million jobs, and generates $79.6 billion in federal and Submitted by: Ridge McLennan, Natural state tax revenues (Outdoor Industry AsResources Department Water Resource Tech sociation, 2003). 12
