InVESTIntegrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs
Tradeoffs of Ecosystem Services from Wetlands in …...Tradeoffs of Ecosystem Services from Wetlands...
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Tradeoffs of Ecosystem Services from
Wetlands in the Houston Region
L. James Lester1, Gregory R. Biddinger1 and Lisa A. Gonzalez1
1Houston Advanced Research Center, The Woodlands, TX, USA
Wetland Services vs. Land Value
Major positive benefits of urban wetlands
◦ Habitat
◦ Nutrient and pollutant assimilation
◦ Stormwater retention
◦ Climate amelioration (heat island effect)
Major issues with urban wetland protection
◦ Loss of land value if undeveloped
◦ Increased cost of development and infrastructure if wetlands protected
◦ Lack of regulatory and nonregulatory frameworks for protection at various levels of government
Growth by Decade in the Houston Region
(Classic Urban Sprawl)
Red = 70’s
Green = 80’s
Yellow = 90’s
Purple = 2000’s
LU/LC Map of Houston 2008
No Data
Developed
Agriculture/Grassland
Forest
Wetland
Bare
Open Water
Legend
Houston-Galveston Area Council
Harris County and Wetlands
Harris County is currently 16.7% floodplain
◦ Reduced by development
◦ Neighboring counties are 21% – 46% floodplain
Texas Coast palustrine wetlands (prairie pothole complexes)
◦ Typical size 0.5 ac – 25 ac
◦ Typical depth 3 in – 16 in
Typical palustrine wetland stores 76% - 93% of annual input
From 1996 – 2005 Harris County lost 4,149.5 acres of
palustrine wetlands to development (0.3% per year)
Functional
Analysis of
Local
Palustrine
Wetland in
2008 - 2009
Prairie Pothole
Wetland
Complexes in
Harris County
Flooding after Tropical Storm Allison
Flood Damage in Harris County
Tropical Storm Allison June 2001 (Extreme)
◦ Precipitation up to 37 inches in 4 days
◦ 30,662 insurance claims (>45,000 homes damaged)
◦ $1,103,765,221 total cost
Flood Damage 1996 – 2007
◦ $1,162,105,186 total
◦ Non-Allison = $58,339,965
High Rainfall is Common
High Monthly Rainfall Amounts
◦ July 2005 = 12.96 inches
◦ October 2006 = 19.26 inches
◦ April 2009 = 15.61 inches
April 18, 2009 flood
◦ 5 deaths
◦ 350 homes flooded
◦ $3.5 million in damages
Wetland Permits and Flooding
(Trading Wetlands for Development)
11,149 Section 404 permits in Texas coastal counties
1991 – 2003
42% affecting palustrine wetlands
◦ Limited protection (2001 and 2006 supreme court
rulings)
Permits in 100 year floodplain in USACE Galveston
District
◦ 1991 – 2003: 32% - 41% annually
Each permit on average increases flood damage by
$212 per flood (urban permits are costliest)
NWF Study of Insured Flood Losses
(Higher Ground 1998)
FEMA Database ‘78 – ‘95 (Claudette 79 and
Alicia 83)
Houston & Harris County had 3,681 properties
with repetitive flood loss
2.9 losses per property over 18 years
$211.5 million paid out (no uninsured losses
included)
Summary
Urban wetlands retain storm water and provide
other services
Urban areas have high demand for land
◦ Undeveloped floodplain land in Harris County is $40K
to $1M per acre
Development in Gulf Coast urban areas creates
high wetland conversion activity
Profit from wetland conversion results in costs
from flood damage
Economic Value of Palustrine Wetlands
Economic cost of wetland conversion is cumulative and
long term
Value is greatest in intensively developed area
Flood avoidance can be improved by protection of
ecosystem services
◦ Land development codes and protected areas have highest
negative correlation to flood damage
Land use decisions currently favor economics of
wetland destruction and structural flood mitigation
Information Gaps
Effect and value of wetland mitigation policy
Ability of low impact development storm
water designs to replace wetland benefits
Thank you for your attention.
Questions?