Estimación de los costes de la invasión del mejillón cebra en la cuenca del Ebro (periodo 2005-2009)

Abstract

This study presents the monetary costs that the zebra mussel invasion has involved in the Ebro basin since 2005 to 2009 for the sectors which use water in their activities. The economic impact associated with this invasion is derived from the operation problems in affected facilities and the costs added due to the cleaning and control treatments. The work methodology is based on the analysis of the survey address to energetic, industrial, agricultural, recreational, public administrations and supplies sensitive to be affected by the zebra mussel invasion. In total, 1329 surveys were sent by post and email to different agents of several sectors. The response rate was 28.4%, allowing a detection of 103 affected users in the basin. The results indicate that costs associated to the zebra mussel expansion in the Ebro basin have not stopped to increase in the last years, reaching 11.6 millions of Euros in the period of study. The most implicated sectors are public administrations, with a 55.1% of the total costs followed by energetic companies, with a 26.4%. Geographically, it is in the High Ebro where more money has been invested in the fight against this alien species during the five years of study.