Valuing Coastal Beaches and Closures Using Benefit Transfer: An Application to Barnstable, Massachusetts.

Sarina F Lyon,Nathaniel H Merrill,Marisa J Mazzotta,Kate K Mulvaney

doi:10.15351/2373-8456.1086

Abstract

Each year, millions of Americans visit beaches for recreation, resulting in significant social welfare benefits and economic activity. Considering the high use of coastal beaches for recreation, closures due to bacterial contamination have the potential to greatly impact coastal visitors and communities. We used readily-available information to develop two transferable models that, together, provide estimates for the value of a beach day as well as the lost value due to a beach closure. We modeled visitation for beaches in Barnstable, Massachusetts on Cape Cod through panel regressions to predict visitation by type of day, for the season, and for lost visits when a closure was posted. We used a meta-analysis of existing studies conducted throughout the United States to estimate a consumer surplus value of a beach visit of around $22 for our study area, accounting for water quality at beaches by using past closure history. We applied this value through a benefit transfer to estimate the value of a beach day, and combined it with lost town revenue from parking to estimate losses in the event of a closure. The results indicate a high value for beaches as a public resource and show significant losses to the town when beaches are closed due to an exceedance in bacterial concentrations.

Highlights

Beaches and coastal areas provide important social and economic value for coastal communities and visitors
We present in this paper a benefit transfer approach to estimating the economic value of public beaches and the lost value due to beach closures
Quantifying the consumer surplus, which may account for a large percentage of the economic value of a beach day, is more complex than measuring direct market values and requires more involved methods

Summary

Introduction

Beaches and coastal areas provide important social and economic value for coastal communities and visitors. Given the considerable use of coastal areas for recreation, beach closures can lead to significant economic and social losses to coastal communities and their surrounding regions. Beach closures and swimming advisories can happen for a number of reasons including bacterial contamination, harmful algal blooms, wave conditions (high surf and rip currents), as well as the less common shark sightings, hurricane warnings, or oil spills. While a closure prohibits all uses of a beach, a swimming advisory prohibits swimming activities but allows other shore-based activities to occur. Swimming advisories are known as contamination advisories when they result from exceeding bacterial concentrations. We generalize the term “beach closure” to refer to full closures, swimming advisories, and contamination advisories

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Conclusion