Environment
Economic benefits of hydrologic services from watershed protection and restoration
Watershed protection and restoration provide a range of benefits including clean and ample water supplies, biodiversity, cultural connection to place, carbon sequestration, and a suite of other ecosystem services. Research by UHERO’s Environmental Policy and Planning Group demonstrates the economic benefits of native forest protection and restoration for groundwater recharge, pointing to the value of […]
Read MoreUHERO’s Leah Bremer on Supporting real-world watershed management
UHERO’s Leah Bremer’s recent publication in Water Resources Research was featured in the Global Water Forum this week. She and a team of interdisciplinary colleagues worked with on-the-ground managers of watershed protection programs in Brazil to identify real-world decision contexts where hydrologic modeling and monitoring can support planning and decision making. They demonstrate the importance […]
Read MoreRisk preferences after a typhoon: An artefactual field experiment with fishers in the Philippines
When are risk preferences stable and when do they change? In general, individual preferences tend to be consistent across time and space but extreme shocks, such as natural disasters, appear to change how people make economic decisions. We conduct an artefactual field experiment with fishers on a remote island in the Philippines and investigate the effect of […]
Read MoreEstimating water demand using price differences of wastewater services
Many homes in Hawai‘i use cesspools and other on-site disposal systems (OSDS) instead of the municipal sewer system. Because bills combine water and waste-water services, and homes with OSDS do not pay for sewer service, OSDS residences have lower monthly bills compared to those with sewer-connected systems. We use this price difference in conjunction with […]
Read MoreHow Will Climate Change Affect Water Demand? Evidence from Hawai‘i Microclimates
The effect that climate change will have on water resource sustainability is gaining international interest, particularly in regions where stocks are strained due to changing climate and increasing populations. Past studies focus mainly on how water availability will be affected by climate change, with little attention paid to how consumer behavior is likely to react. […]
Read MoreCollaborative research to support urban agriculture in the face of change: The case of the Sumida watercress farm on O‘ahu
As urban areas expand around the world, there are growing efforts to restore and protect natural and agricultural systems for the multitude of ecosystem services they provide to urban communities. This study presents a researcher-farmer collaboration in a highly urbanized area of Oʻahu focused on understanding the historical and current challenges and opportunities faced by […]
Read MoreIncorporating Historical Spring Discharge Protection into Sustainable Groundwater Management: A Case Study from Pearl Harbor Aquifer, Hawai‘i
By Kimberly Burnett, Ahmed Elshall, Christopher Wada, Aida Arik, Aly El-Kadi, Clifford Voss, Jade Delevaux, and Leah Bremer The value of considering a range of diverse benefits is particularly salient in geographically isolated areas like the Hawaiian Islands, where judicious management of limited local freshwater resources is essential to sustaining the wellbeing of residents and […]
Read MorePublication: Incorporating Historical Spring Discharge Protection Into Sustainable Groundwater Management: A Case Study From Pearl Harbor Aquifer, Hawai‘i
Groundwater management policy around the world increasingly seeks to protect groundwater-dependent ecosystems and associated human uses and values. This includes uses of ecosystems and agricultural systems linked to natural spring discharge. Yet, there are few examples of practical tools to balance human groundwater use with ecological water demand related to spring discharge. Using a simulation […]
Read MoreCoastal armoring and sinking property values: the case of seawalls in California
Rising sea levels necessitate careful consideration of different forms of coastal protection but cost-benefit analysis is limited when important non-market social costs have not been measured. Seawalls protect individual properties but can potentially impose negative externalities on neighboring properties via accelerated beach loss. We conduct a hedonic valuation of seawalls in two coastal California counties: […]
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