Christopher Wada
Financing Watershed Conservation
In November 2011, Governor Abercrombie and State officials launched a watershed protection plan entitled, “The Rain Follows the Forest”. The initiative’s goal is to double the current level of watershed protection – approximately 10% of priority watershed areas throughout Hawai‘i are currently protected – over the next ten years at an estimated cost of $11 million […]
Read MoreFoundations for Hawai‘i’s Green Economy: Economic Trends in Hawai‘i Agriculture, Energy, and Natural Resource Management
This report provides the first comparison of standard economic indicators for three sectors that are key to future sustainability in Hawai‘i: renewable energy, agriculture, and natural resource management.
Read MoreThe Economics of Groundwater
We provide synthesis of the economics of groundwater with a focus on optimal management and the Pearce equation for renewable resources. General management principles developed through the solution of a single aquifer optimization problem are extended to the management of multiple resources including additional groundwater aquifers, surface water, recycled wastewater, and upland watersheds. Given an abundant (albeit expensive) substitute, […]
Read MoreAn economic approach to assessing import policies designed to prevent the arrival of invasive species: the case of Puccinia psidii in Hawai‘i
Since its first documented introduction to Hawai‘i in 2005, the rust fungus Puccinia psidii has already severely damaged Syzygium jambos (Indian rose apple) trees and the federally endangered Eugenia koolauensis (nioi). Fortunately, the particular strain has yet to cause serious damage to Metrosideros polymorpha (‘ōhi‘a). However, the introduction of more virulent strains and the genetic […]
Read MoreEconomic Analysis of the Proposed Rule to Prevent Arrival of New Genetic Strains of the Rust Fungus Puccinia psidii in Hawai‘i
Since its first documented introduction to Hawai‘i in 2005, the rust fungus P. psidii has already severely damaged Syzygium jambos (Indian rose apple) trees and the federallyendangered Eugenia koolauensis (nioi). Fortunately, the particular strain has yet to cause serious damage to ‘ōhi‘a, which comprises roughly 80% of the state’s native forests and covers 400,000 ha. Although the rust has affected less […]
Read MoreOrdering the extraction of renewable resources: The case of multiple aquifers
We provide conditions for optimal use of multiple sources of a renewable resource and characterize the resulting extraction sequence, resource scarcity values, and (single) efficiency price path for two groundwater aquifers and an abundant alternative resource. A numerical simulation for the South O‘ahu aquifer system, which also allows for different distribution costs, illustrates the case […]
Read MoreIslands of Sustainability in Time and Space
We review the economics perspective on sustainable resource use and sustainable development. Under standard conditions, dynamic efficiency leads to sustainability of renewable resources but not the other way around. For the economic‐ecological system as a whole, dynamic efficiency and intergenerational fairness similarly lead to sustainability, but ad hoc rules of sustainability may well lead to […]
Read MoreEfficient Management of Coastal Marine Nutrient Loads with Multiple Sources of Abatement Instruments
Pollution management based on marginal abatement costs is optimal only if those abatement costs are specified correctly. Using the example of nitrogen pollution in groundwater, we show that the marginal abatement cost function for any given pollution source can be directly derived from a social-welfare maximization problem, wherein controls include both abatement instruments and inputs […]
Read MoreOrdering Renewable Resources: Groundwater, Recycling, and Desalination
In this paper, we consider the role that wastewater recycling plays in the optimal extraction of groundwater, a renewable resource. We develop a two-sector dynamic optimization model to solve for the optimal trajectories of groundwater extraction and water recycling. For the case of spatially increasing recycling costs, recycled water serves as a supplemental resource in […]
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