Estimating the societal benefits from wildfire mitigation activities in a payments for watershed services program in Colorado

Payments for watershed services (PWS) programs are becoming a popular governance approach in the western United States (US) to fund forest management aimed at source water protection. In this paper we conduct a cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of one of the first collaboratively funded PWS programs in the US, located in the municipal watersheds servicing Denver, Colorado. We combine wildfire modeling, sediment modeling, and primary and secondary data on economic values to quantify the impact of the program on protecting multiple values at risk. Our results show that while the program has led to diverse societal benefits, it is only economically efficient (benefit-cost ratio greater than one) when all co-benefits beyond source water protection are considered and fuels treatments are assumed to encounter wildfire. When the probability of wildfire is accounted for, economic benefits would need to be triple what was estimated in our analysis to achieve economic efficiency. Our findings suggest that improving spatial prioritization of interventions would increase economic benefits and better data on treatment placement and costs would help facilitate future CBA of PWS programs focused on wildfire mitigation.

The Emergence and Persistence of Payments for Watershed Services Programs in Mexico

Payments for watershed services programs (PWS) have become a prominent tool to protect ecosystems and hydrological services but little is known about where these innovative financing tools and governance systems emerge and persist. In 2008, the Mexican government started a program where they match funding from local partners to establish user-financed PWS programs, leading to the creation of 145 programs between 2008 and 2019. We study the factors that led to the emergence and persistence of these local PWS programs across Mexico. We assemble a unique database on these programs, as well as biophysical, economic and socio-cultural, and institutional variables, at the municipality level. We use logistic regression to analyze the variables that led to the emergence and persistence of PWS. We find that PWS programs are more likely to emerge in municipalities with lower opportunity costs; that are wealthier and more populated; that have complementary conservation programs; and that have more collective land tenure and protected areas. PWS programs are more likely to persist in municipalities with poorer water quality and more floods; that have more protected areas; and that have a non-governmental organization or water utility involved as the local counterpart. These results suggest that the emergence and persistence of local, user-financed PWS could be facilitated through better information on the condition of watershed services to signal need for hydrological protection; capacity building and institutional strengthening efforts that provide the social capital needed for collective action; and involvement of decentralized non-state actors that are politically neutral and can provide more sustainable financing.

Characterization and monetization of Mount Marsabit ecosystem watershed services, Marsabit County, Kenya

The study aimed at addressing Mount Marsabit ecosystem watershed service valuation information gap by: - a) analyzing the typology and mapping the spatial distribution of water supply points within the forest ecosystem, b) documenting types of water consumers and service beneficiaries and, c) undertaking monetary value estimation of the ecosystem watershed services in terms of the water supply market. The mapping of ecosystem water points involved a physical inventory of three target wards in Marsabit Sub-County, namely Marsabit Central, Sagante/Jaldesa, and Karare and recording of GPS locations and thereafter overlying the water sites on a map of the area using ArcGIS. The analysis of water consumers and valuation of the ecosystem watershed service was undertaken through the market price method (MPM) using existing secondary and primary data from relevant offices and from face-to-face interviews of 275 respondents. The findings showed that Marsabit forest ecosystem was supporting a total of 115 active water points which were dominated by shallow wells (68) followed by boreholes (21), water pans (14), springs (4), streams (6), and crater lakes (2). The overall pattern showed boreholes as the principal water access types (47.3%), followed by shallow wells (15.3%), springs (12%), water pans (8.7%), streams (2%), and crater lakes (0.7%). The mountain ecosystem was found to be more hydrologically active on the eastern windward side within the 1300-1300m elevation belt. The overall value of the Mount Marsabit ecosystem watershed service was estimated at Ksh 58,285,026 ($582,035) per year. It is recommended that the Water Resources Authority (WRA), the Kenya Water Towers Agency (KWTA), and the County Government of Marsabit should collaborate with local communities and the local water vendors to initiate a payment for ecosystems services (PES) that will plough back some of the revenue generated from the water market towards conservation of Mount Marsabit Forest ecosystem.