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Heberling MT, Price JI, Nietch CT, Elovitz M, Smucker NJ, Schupp DA, Safwat A, Neyer T. Linking Water Quality to Drinking Water Treatment Costs Using Time Series Analysis: Examining the Effect of a Treatment Plant Upgrade in Ohio. WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH 2022; 58:1-17. [PMID: 35619732 PMCID: PMC9127783 DOI: 10.1029/2021wr031257] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
We estimate a cost function for a water treatment plant in Ohio to assess the avoided-treatment costs resulting from improved source water quality. Regulations and source water concerns motivated the treatment plant to upgrade its treatment process by adding a granular activated carbon building in 2012. The cost function uses daily observations from 2013 to 2016; this allows us to compare the results to a cost function estimated for 2007-2011 for the same plant. Both models focus on understanding the relationship between treatment costs per 1,000 gallons (per 3.79 m3) of produced drinking water and predictor variables such as turbidity, pH, total organic carbon, deviations from target pool elevation, final production, and seasonal variables. Different from the 2007-2011 model, the 2013-2016 model includes a harmful algal bloom toxin variable. We find that the new treatment process leads to a different cost model than the one that covers 2007-2011. Both total organic carbon and algal toxin are important drivers for the 2013-2016 treatment costs. This reflects a significant increase in cyanobacteria cell densities capable of producing toxins in the source water between time periods. The 2013-2016 model also reveals that positive and negative shocks to treatment costs affect volatility, the changes in the variance of costs through time, differently. Positive shocks, or increased costs, lead to higher volatility compared to negative shocks, or decreased costs, of similar magnitude. After quantifying the changes in treatment costs due to changes in source water quality, we discuss how the study results inform policy-relevant decisions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew T. Heberling
- US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA
- Corresponding author: M. T. Heberling, US EPA/ORD/CEMM (MS 587), 26 W MLK Dr., Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA. Telephone: +1.513.569.7917;
| | - James I. Price
- University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, School of Freshwater Sciences, Milwaukee, WI 53204, USA
| | - Christopher T. Nietch
- US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA
| | - Michael Elovitz
- US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA
| | - Nathan J. Smucker
- US Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA
| | | | - Amr Safwat
- Aptim Federal Services, LLC, Cincinnati, OH 45212, USA
| | - Tim Neyer
- Clermont County Water Resources Department, Batavia, OH 45103, USA
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Cimon-Morin J, Goyette JO, Mendes P, Pellerin S, Poulin M. A systematic conservation planning approach to maintaining ecosystem service provision in working landscapes. Facets (Ott) 2021. [DOI: 10.1139/facets-2020-0100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Balancing human well-being with the maintenance of ecosystem services (ES) for future generations has become one of the central sustainability challenges of the 21st century. In working landscapes, past and ongoing production-centered objectives have resulted in the conversion of ecosystems into simple land-use types, which has also altered the provision of most ES. These inevitable trade-offs between the efficient production of individual provisioning ES and the maintenance of regulating and cultural ES call for the development of a land-use strategy based on the multifunctional use of the landscape. Due to the heterogeneous nature of working landscapes, both protection and restoration actions are needed to improve their multifunctionality. Systematic conservation planning (SCP) offers a decision support framework that can support landscape multifunctionality by indicating where ES management efforts should be implemented. We describe an approach that we developed to include ES provision protection and restoration objectives in SCP with the goal of providing ongoing benefits to society. We explain the general framework of this approach and discuss concepts, challenges, innovations, and prospects for the further development of a comprehensive decision support tool. We illustrate our approach with two case studies implemented in the pan-Canadian project ResNet.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jérôme Cimon-Morin
- Département des sciences du bois et de la forêt, Faculté de Foresterie, de Géographie et de Géomatique, Université Laval, 2405 rue de la Terrasse, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
- Centre d’étude de la forêt, Université du Québec à Montréal, 141 Président-Kennedy, Montréal, QC H2X 1Y4, Canada
| | - Jean-Olivier Goyette
- Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science, McGill University, 1205 Dr. Penfield Avenue, Montreal, QC H3A 1B1, Canada
- Département de phytologie, Faculté des Sciences de l’Agriculture et de l’Alimentation, Université Laval, 2425 rue de l’agriculture, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
| | - Poliana Mendes
- Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science, McGill University, 1205 Dr. Penfield Avenue, Montreal, QC H3A 1B1, Canada
- Département de phytologie, Faculté des Sciences de l’Agriculture et de l’Alimentation, Université Laval, 2425 rue de l’agriculture, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
| | - Stéphanie Pellerin
- Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science, McGill University, 1205 Dr. Penfield Avenue, Montreal, QC H3A 1B1, Canada
- Département des sciences biologiques, Institut de recherche en biologie végétale, Université de Montréal, 4101 rue Sherbrooke Est, Montréal, QC H1X 2B2, Canada
| | - Monique Poulin
- Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science, McGill University, 1205 Dr. Penfield Avenue, Montreal, QC H3A 1B1, Canada
- Département de phytologie, Faculté des Sciences de l’Agriculture et de l’Alimentation, Université Laval, 2425 rue de l’agriculture, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada
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Riegels N, Lynggaard-Jensen A, Krogsgaard Jensen J, Gerner NV, Anzaldua G, Mark O, Butts M, Birk S. Making the ecosystem services approach operational: A case study application to the Aarhus River, Denmark. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2020; 707:135836. [PMID: 31972905 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135836] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2019] [Revised: 11/27/2019] [Accepted: 11/27/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
The ecosystem services (ESS) approach seeks to identify and characterize links between ecosystems and human welfare. The DESSIN ESS evaluation framework is a novel methodology that has been developed to operationalize ecosystem service assessment, with a focus on urban freshwater settings. This paper describes an application of the framework to a retrospective case study in Aarhus, Denmark, which was used to test the framework and make suggestions for improvement. River restoration and wastewater management measures enhanced ecosystem state and the provision and use of purification and recreation ESS for selected beneficiaries, including increased economic values. Feedback from this case study suggests a missing link between science-based ESS approaches, which often have a normative basis in ecosystem status, and the real-world provision and use of ESS in urban settings. In the urban context, many ESS result from a combination of human and ecosystem inputs, and the human inputs can often be significant. Quantifying ESS provision and use therefore requires understanding how ecosystem and human inputs work together to make contributions to human welfare.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Gerardo Anzaldua
- Ecologic Institut gemeinnützige GmbH, Pfalzburger Strasse 43/44, 10717 Berlin, Germany
| | - Ole Mark
- DHI, Agern Allé 5, 2970 Hørsholm, Denmark
| | | | - Sebastian Birk
- University of Duisburg-Essen, Faculty of Biology, Aquatic Ecology, Universitätsstrasse 5, 45141 Essen, Germany; University of Duisburg-Essen, Centre for Water and Environmental Research, Universitätsstrasse 5, 45141 Essen, Germany.
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Price JI, Heberling MT. The Effects of Source Water Quality on Drinking Water Treatment Costs: A Review and Synthesis of Empirical Literature. ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS : THE JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS 2018; 151:195-209. [PMID: 30008516 PMCID: PMC6040680 DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2018.04.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Watershed protection, and associated in situ water quality improvements, has received considerable attention as a means for mitigating health risks and avoiding expenditures at drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs). This study reviews the literature linking source water quality to DWTP expenditures. For each study, we report information on the modeling approach, data structure, definition of treatment costs and water quality, and statistical methods. We then extract elasticities indicating the percentage change in drinking water treatment costs resulting from a 1% change in water quality. Forty-six elasticities are obtained for various water quality parameters, such as turbidity, total organic carbon (TOC), nitrogen, sediment loading, and phosphorus loading. An additional 29 elasticities are obtained for land use classification (e.g., forest, agricultural, urban), which often proxy source water quality. Findings indicate relatively large ranges in the estimated elasticities of most parameters and land use classifications. However, average elasticities are smaller and ranges typically narrower for studies that incorporated control variables consistent with economic theory in their models. We discuss the implications of these findings for a DWTP's incentive to engage in source water protection and highlight gaps in the literature.
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Affiliation(s)
- James I Price
- Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH 45268
| | - Matthew T Heberling
- Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati, OH 45268
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Almeter A, Tashie A, Procter A, McAlexander T, Browning D, Rudder C, Jackson L, Araujo R. A Needs-Driven, Multi-Objective Approach to Allocate Urban Ecosystem Services from 10,000 Trees. SUSTAINABILITY 2018; 10:4488. [PMID: 31275621 PMCID: PMC6605077 DOI: 10.3390/su10124488] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Urban areas face challenges including vehicular emissions, stormwater runoff, and sedentary lifestyles. Communities recognize the value of trees in mitigating these challenges by absorbing pollution and enhancing walkability. However, siting trees to optimize multiple benefits requires a systems approach that may cross sectors of management and expertise. We present a spatially-explicit method to optimize tree planting in Durham, NC, a rapidly growing urban area with an aging tree stock. Using GIS data and a ranking approach, we explored where Durham could augment its current stock of willow oaks through its plans to install 10,000 mid-sized deciduous trees. Data included high-resolution landcover metrics developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), demographics from the U.S. Census, an attributed roads dataset licensed to the EPA, and sidewalk information from the City of Durham. Census block groups (CBGs) were ranked for tree planting according to single and multiple objectives including stormwater reduction, emissions buffering, walkability, and protection of vulnerable populations. Prioritizing tree planting based on single objectives led to four sets of locations with limited geographic overlap. Prioritizing tree planting based on multiple objectives tended to favor historically disadvantaged CBGs. The four-objective strategy met the largest proportion of estimated regional need. Based on this analysis, the City of Durham has implemented a seven-year plan to plant 10,000 trees in priority neighborhoods. This analysis also found that any strategy which included the protection of vulnerable populations generated more benefits than others.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew Almeter
- Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) Research Participant, US Environmental Protection Agency, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA
| | - Arik Tashie
- Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) Research Participant, US Environmental Protection Agency, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA
| | - Andrew Procter
- Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) Research Participant, US Environmental Protection Agency, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA
| | - Tara McAlexander
- Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) Environmental Fellow, US Environmental Protection Agency, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA
| | - Douglas Browning
- Student Services Contractor, US Environmental Protection Agency, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA
| | - Charles Rudder
- Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) Research Participant, US Environmental Protection Agency, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA
| | - Laura Jackson
- Office of Research and Development, US Environmental Protection Agency, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA
| | - Rochelle Araujo
- Office of Research and Development, US Environmental Protection Agency, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA
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Garcia X, Barceló D, Comas J, Corominas L, Hadjimichael A, Page TJ, Acuña V. Placing ecosystem services at the heart of urban water systems management. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2016; 563-564:1078-1085. [PMID: 27216967 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.05.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2016] [Revised: 04/29/2016] [Accepted: 05/02/2016] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Current approaches have failed to deliver a truly integrated management of the different elements of the urban water system, such as freshwater ecosystems, drinking water treatment plants, distribution networks, sewer systems and wastewater treatment plants. Because the different parts of urban water have not been well integrated, poor decisions have been made for society in general, leading to the misuse of water resources, the degradation of freshwater ecosystems and increased overall treatment costs. Some attempts to solve environmental issues have adopted the ecosystem services concept in a more integrated approach, however this has rarely strayed far away from pure policy, and has made little impact in on-the-ground operational matters. Here, we present an improved decision-making framework to integrate the management of urban water systems. This framework uses the ecosystem service concept in a practical way to make a better use of both financial and water resources, while continuing to preserve the environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- X Garcia
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Carrer Emili Grahit 101, 17003 Girona, Spain; International University of Catalonia, Carrer Immaculada 22, 08017 Barcelona, Spain
| | - D Barceló
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Carrer Emili Grahit 101, 17003 Girona, Spain; Department of Environmental Chemistry, Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA-CSIC), Carrer Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
| | - J Comas
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Carrer Emili Grahit 101, 17003 Girona, Spain; Laboratory of Chemical and Environmental Engineering (LEQUIA), Institute of the Environment, Universitat de Girona, Campus Montilivi s/n, 17071 Girona, Spain
| | - Ll Corominas
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Carrer Emili Grahit 101, 17003 Girona, Spain
| | - A Hadjimichael
- Laboratory of Chemical and Environmental Engineering (LEQUIA), Institute of the Environment, Universitat de Girona, Campus Montilivi s/n, 17071 Girona, Spain
| | - T J Page
- Australian Rivers Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, 4111 Queensland, Australia; Water Planning Ecology, Queensland Dept. of Science, Information Technology and Innovation, Dutton Park, 4102 Queensland, Australia
| | - V Acuña
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Carrer Emili Grahit 101, 17003 Girona, Spain.
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