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Benefits Cost Anaylsis: Options for Sea Level Rise Adaptation on West Cliff Drive
Full text linkThis report presents the results of a benefit cost analysis of various options for adapting West Cliff Drive (in the City of Santa Cruz, California) to sea level rise as identified through extensive technical analysis and community input. This report has built on previous work completed as part of the West Cliff Drive Adaptation and Management Plan project. The previous work products provided much of the information needed for this benefit cost analysis included an existing conditions inventory, future exposure and vulnerability assessment, and an adaptation alternatives analysis. Since most of the West Cliff Drive corridor is publicly owned by the City of Santa Cruz and California State Parks, results of the future exposure and vulnerability assessment showed that little private property and only small portions of public infrastructure is at risk in the future. Thus, the benefit cost analysis focuses primarily on changes to the recreational uses of the West Cliff Drive corridor.
One challenge to adaptation planning is the uncertainty associated with the rate and elevation of sea level rise at future points of time, critical to the question of what to do and when. To deal with this uncertainty, the benefit cost analysis uses a technique called Monte Carlo analysis, a technique to test many different possible scenarios of sea level rise; in this analysis, 100,000 different scenarios were examined in every run of the analysis. The underlying sea level rise data is the same as used by the State of California in its various sea level rise planning guidance documents. This approach to the benefit cost analysis allows an estimate not only of net benefits but also the probability of positive net benefits of each adaptation strategy.
The purpose of this benefit cost analysis is to compare the economic benefits and costs of the coastal adaptation options aimed at managing coastal erosion to a future in which no additional adaptation actions beyond those routinely taken by the City are taken. The benefit cost analysis is designed to support a choice between those different adaptation strategies which involve substantial new expenditures by the City the or “business as usual” strategy. The fundamental question is whether it is economically worthwhile for the City to invest substantial resources in adapting to sea level rise along West Cliff Drive compared with continuing as they have in the past? Economically worthwhile projects have benefits greater than costs, taking into account the differences in timing of spending and receipt of benefits. This concept is called the net present value.
Four scenarios are examined: Business as Usual – No actions are taken beyond routine maintenance and irregular emergency repairs Managed Retreat – Existing armoring structures are removed, and natural erosion and shoreline processes restored. Recreation Focused Strategy – A combination of sand management, reduction in coastal armoring footprints and sand retention structures along with structural adaptation in high hazard areas such as sea caves. Protection Focused Strategy – Projects that stabilize the shoreline such as revetments, seawalls, filling of sea caves, and construction of artificial bedrock
The Ocean Climate Action Plan
Full text linkClimate change and ocean health are often thought about as separate silos, when the two are interconnected.
Climate change is warming the oceans and changing their chemistry. Without ocean health, the entire planetary water cycle and oxygen cycle are in danger. The oceans sequester huge amounts of carbon dioxide helping to cool the planet, but that may not continue with “business as usual.” Climate change affects even those far from any coastline. We must solve the ocean climate challenge together, and we have a short window of time to take action.
The Center for the Blue Economy has partnered with Blue Frontier to bring together thought leaders from across industry, government, academia, and the conservation community to craft the Ocean Climate Action Plan or OCAP. Key elements of the plan were passed as part of the infrastructure bill (a down payment on clean ports and clean energy) and many OCAP recommendations were included in the (now stalled) Build Back Better bill. Historic levels of funding for climate adaptation and mitigation are on the line (400+ billion over ten years). Is climate change important to you? If so, now is the time to speak up.
More info: Ocean Climate Action Pla
Visualizing the Three-Demensional Footprint of Ocean Uses: A Guide to Building and Applying Space Use Profiles for Ocean Management
No full textThe Need for a More Holistic View of Space Requirements of Ocean Uses America’s ocean is becoming increasingly crowded with human activities. More than half the U.S. population lives near the ocean, and millions of people visit the coasts to recreate every year. Additionally, ocean industries, including fishing, shipping, aquaculture, tourism, mining, and energy production, continue to grow and seek new operating areas. Ocean uses can create social and economic benefits to coastal communities and the nation. However, their growing footprint on the seascape also poses challenges for planners, managers and stakeholders who are responding to this trend, especially in areas where multiple distinct uses are operating together. Ocean uses are typically depicted and managed either as simple shapes on a map showing the use’s maximum spatial extent, or, as conceptual cross-sectional illustrations of the use in a general ocean setting. These inherently “flat” and often qualitative perspectives cannot fully quantify or convey the three-dimensional footprint of the entire use across ocean space. Effective ocean planning requires new ways to document, visualize, and understand how any use operates in, on, and under the water, and how that resulting three-dimensional footprint affects other use
Artisanal Marine Fisheries and Climate Change in the Region of Lima, Peru
Full text linkThis study explores the relationship between climate change and artisanal marine fisheries in the region of Lima, Peru. From the perspective of the economics of climate change and renewable marine resources, the methods of correlations and bivariate regression are employed. A negative relationship is found between the increase in the sea surface temperature (SST) and the marine fishery catches landed at the ports of the Lima region (2004-2017).The higher the SST, the lower fishing effort. It was also found that the SST significantly influences the gross added value of fishing. To reduce the vulnerability of artisanal marine fisheries, the main adaptation measures that should be implemented as public policy are accessible loans for artisanal fishers vulnerable to climate variability, a reduction in polluting emissions discharged by industrial fisheries into artisanal fishing grounds for direct human consumption, and adaptation projects
Gross Benefit Estimates From Reductions In Allisions, Collisions And Groundings Due To Electronic Navigational Charts
Full text linkNautical charts are a fundamental tool of marine navigation. Critical information provides for safe and efficient use of our waterways and for protection of our marine environment. NOAA nautical charts developed by the Office of Coast Survey (OCS) are mandatory on commercial ships that carry America’s foreign commerce. NOAA’s charts are also used on every Navy and Coast Guard ship, fishing and passenger vessels, and are widely carried by recreational boaters. They directly support NOAA’s goal to “promote safe navigation” and the Department of Commerce’s goal of promoting U.S. competitiveness in the global marketplace. Data from the Physical Oceanographic Real-Time System (PORTS®) also provides real-time essential navigational information to promote safety and efficiency at the largest ports in the U.S. This study was based on evaluation of Allision, Collision and Grounding (ACG) occurrences per vessel transit in the presence of PORTS® installations and updates of five types of ENCs (overview, general, coastal, approach and harbor). At locations where PORTS® had been installed a significant portion of ACG variation was explained where at least one of each type of Electronic Nautical Chart (ENC) had also been released. As the number of ENC releases increased, ACG accident rates all declined. At locations were PORTS® had not been installed, instances where all ENC types had been updated (as well as harbor only ENCs) were found to be significant in explanations of reductions in groundings. Total annual benefits were estimated to exceed 262 million over a ten-year period. Results of this study can assist in prioritizing locations and periodicity of future ENC updates as well as suggesting locations for additional PORTS® installations
Taco Tuesday Anyone? Understanding student demand and knowledge of local seafood.
Full text linkThe Gulf of Maine fishing industry continues to be a major economic driver throughout the region, integrating culture, history, and development across working waterfronts spanning thousands of miles from Cape Cod Massachusetts in the south to Nova Scotia Canada in the north. Local seafood harvesting and consumption attract visitors from around the world to enjoy the abundance of lobster, clams, mussels and oysters from the Gulf of Maine. What tourists and residents alike may not understand is the opportunity of other species that are plentiful, economical and delicious. Coupled with the local food movement, underutilized seafood presents additional potential especially within the environmental-conscious consumer groups. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate seafood consumption, species preferences, and eco-label knowledge within one such consumer setting (higher education, college campus setting). College students from the University of Southern Maine were surveyed in the fall of 2017 (N=227) and spring of 2018 (N=320). Most consume seafood regularly, with more than half of participants eating fish or shellfish weekly or monthly. Top species preferences were salmon, shrimp and tuna, followed by local New England fare, ending with underutilized fish species being the least popular. Recognition of seafood eco-labeling trended positively, yet reading of educational outreach was poor despite strong desire for sustainable, local, healthy food. Study participants viewed cost as the top barrier for consuming local seafood. When offered at a price equivalent, lack of visibility was the top impediment for purchasing the underutilized fish entrée. To summarize, this study demonstrates strong demand for regionally and responsibly harvested seafood while highlighting the need for improved communication to market such seafood
Port Performance from A Policy Perspective – A Systematic Review of the Literature
Full text linkOwing to their diverse functionality, seaports as entities produce a mix of private and public goods that have significant welfare implications for the regions they serve. In effect, performance in seaports can be viewed as multi-dimensional. When forming policy that affects multiple stakeholders it is therefore desirable to measure performance across all relevant dimensions, as they are likely to have differing effects on concerned stakeholders. The objective of this study is to conduct a systematic literature review of published studies on seaport performance measurement to identify, critically evaluate and integrate the various dimensions of seaport performance measurement. A review of the literature was carried out focusing on key questions in performance measurement system design outlining what to measure and how to measure it. Our study finds that measuring port performance has been expanding rapidly leading to significant advancement in the development of methods to create different measures of port performance. However, there has been less progress in advancing means to define what constitutes performance as a construct particularly when performance is perceived as multidimensional. In this review, five dimensions of seaport performance were identified. In addition, a formative construct of performance was proposed for the design of performance measurement systems to address policy concerns when performance is of a multidimensional nature
Investing in the New Blue Economy: The Changing Role of International Development Organizations in Catalyzing Private Sector Investment in Support of Regional Strategic Action Programmes for the Sustainable Development of Coasts and Oceans
Full text linkOver the last 20 years, governments sharing common coastal and ocean ecosystems have developed and agreed on concrete regional action programs to stop and, in some cases, reverse a trend of deteriorating coastal and ocean resources. Implementation of these action programs requires significant investments by the public and private sectors alike, with the potential for substantial economic growth and enhanced social well-being. For this to happen, new institutional arrangements, technologies, and financial vehicles and asset classes are needed to mainstream innovative “blue economy” projects that have the potential to transition economies and communities to more sustainable development paths.
This paper proposes one such set of transformative approaches for private and public investments in the blue economy and the role of the international development community in catalyzing this transformation. It proposes using the government approved regional action programs as guides to investment, as strategic frameworks to prioritize action, and as tools to reduce private sector investment risks.
Establishing regional pre-investment facilities supported by the international development and donor community could serve as a new institutional arrangement to help cultivate pipelines of sustainable and bankable projects for financing by specialized blue economy commercial funds. To finance these pre-investment facilities, success fees can be agreed upon by all stakeholders and leveraged on closed investment deals supported by the specialized blue economy commercial funds or by an ecosystem of emerging sustainable investment funds. These success fees can assist the pre-investment facilities in becoming donor independent over time.
This paper examines the development of such a pre-investment facility to cultivate an ecosystem of sustainable blue economy investment projects for the Seas of East Asia and presents the lessons for development organizations, local and national governments, and investors from pilot investment cases in four ocean-related sectors: sustainable seafood, marine protected areas and sustainable tourism, wastewater management, and plastic pollution
An Integrated Climate Science-Economic Model for Evaluating Adaptations to Sea Level Rise: A Prototype Model for Monterey, California
Full text linkPreparing for flooding that will be exacerbated by climate change and sea level rise must take place in the context of deep uncertainty . One strategy for dealing with that uncertainty is to convert unknown probabilities into know probabilities using techniques such as Monte Carlo analysis. This paper demonstrates the feasibility of creating a cost-benefit model for sea level rise adaptation options using an integrated climate change/sea level rise-weather-economic model. The model tests the probability of benefits exceeding costs for shoreline protection such as beach nourishment and armoring under multiple iterations of possible climate futures. It uses shoreline segments in Monterey, California as a test area. The results of the tests indicate action should be taken sooner rather than later to increase the probability of a positive NPV. The need for further refinement and extension of the model is discussed
Evaluating Oyster Aquaculture’s Cost-Effectiveness as a Nitrogen Removal Best Management Practice – A Case Study of the Delaware Inland Bays
Full text linkDisease and overfishing have led to a dramatic decline in wild populations and subsequent harvests of the eastern oyster Crassostrea virginica over the past few decades in Delaware and other states along the Atlantic Coast. However, in addition to their value as food to consumers, oysters, whether wild populations or cultured stocks, can provide ecosystem services such as nutrient removal, which may result in localized water quality improvements. Consequently, recent policies in Delaware have sought to establish and grow an oyster aquaculture industry. However, a key challenge to achieving efficient levels of industry growth and water quality improvements is that current market prices for oysters in other states and those projected for a Delaware market do not account for the value of these additional ecosystem services. In my analysis, I consider the projected market value of oysters harvested from the Delaware Inland Bays, estimate the additional value of their nutrient removal benefits, and propose a framework of financial incentives needed to increase the supply of oysters and therefore improved water quality. I then conclude with a brief discussion of how this incentive program could be structured as well addressing the regional differences in the oyster aquaculture industry and within the scientific literature