Ecosystem Services
Informing Water Policy in Hawaii with Transformative Interdisciplinary Research: UHERO’s Role in ʻIke Wai
By Kimberly Burnett and Christopher Wada UHERO’s Project Environment will be leading the economic analysis for a new National Science Foundation project addressing critical gaps in the understanding of Hawaii’s fresh water supply that limit decision making, planning and crisis responses. ‘Ike Wai (from the Hawaiian ‘ike, (knowledge), and wai, (water) spans geophysics, microbiology, cyberinfrastructure, […]
Read MorePayments for Watershed Services as Adaptation to Climate Change: Upstream Conservation and Downstream Aquifer Management
Economically optimal groundwater extraction allocates water over space and time to its highest and best social use. But optimal management of water resources also requires optimal investment in watershed capital, even as the climate is changing. We augment a standard coastal groundwater management model with stock-dependent extraction costs to include recharge-enhancing natural and produced capital […]
Read MoreBenefit-Cost Analysis of Watershed Conservation
The objectives of this report are (1) to review studies that estimate the relationship between watershed conservation activities and groundwater recharge in Hawai‘i and (2) to estimate the volume of freshwater yield saved per dollar invested in conservation at several sites on Hawai‘i Island. We conclude from the literature review that more work should be […]
Read MoreUnderstanding the Links Between Local Ecological Knowledge, Ecosystem Services, and Resilience
By Kim Burnett and Cheryl Geslani UHERO’s Project Environment has received funding from the National Science Foundation to participate in an interdisciplinary, international project that spans the natural and social sciences as well as the terrestrial and marine spheres. UHERO is partnering with scientists, resource managers, cultural practitioners and private landowners in Hawaii and Fiji. […]
Read MoreUHERO 101.12: What is the Value of the Environment?
By Cheryl Geslani The Earth’s environment is divided into different combinations of living organisms and their nonliving surroundings: air, water and soil. These different organic communities are called ecosystems. Humans receive benefits from these ecosystems in the form of “ecosystem services”, a term that covers a range of benefits from artistic inspiration to soil detoxification. […]
Read MoreHow Do We Manage Our Interdependent Environmental Resources?
By Christopher Wada Managing water resources requires an understanding of the linkages between key hydrologic factors and direct human influences. The problem is further complicated by the fact that water resources are often interdependent, which suggests that management should also account for ecological interlinkages. For example, a forested upstream watershed may replenish an underlying groundwater […]
Read MoreIncentivizing interdependent resource management: watersheds, groundwater, and coastal ecology
Managing water resources independently may result in substantial economic losses when those resources are interdependent with each other and with other environmental resources. We first develop general principles for using resources with spillovers, including corrective taxes (subsidies) for incentivizing private resource users. We then analyze specific cases of managing water resources, in particular the interaction […]
Read MoreOptimal Joint Management of Interdependent Resources: Groundwater vs. Kiawe (Prosopis pallida)
Local and global changes continue to influence interactions between groundwater and terrestrial ecosystems. Changes in precipitation, surface water, and land cover can affect the water balance of a given watershed, and thus affect both the quantity and quality of freshwater entering the ground. Groundwater management frameworks often abstract from such interactions. However, in some cases, […]
Read MoreCoastal Zone Management in Hawaii
By Christopher Wada Hawaii has 750 linear miles of coastline that include all of our beaches, an array of cliffs, bays and other features that count among our most treasured natural resources. Development of these resources is a key source of economic growth, but ensuring that this development is carried out in a manner that […]
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