Estimating the benefits of stream water quality improvements in urbanizing watersheds: An ecological production function approach

Significance Streams are under significant ecological stress in rapidly urbanizing watersheds around the world. However, estimates of the combined use and nonuse benefits of improving urban stream water quality, which are critical for guiding policy, are generally lacking. To address this gap, we develop an ecological production framework that is tailored to urban stream stressors, conditions, human uses, and preferences in the Piedmont ecoregion of the United States and that allows analysts to translate changes in measurable water quality indicators into monetary benefit estimates. An application of the framework to illustrative policy scenarios in an urban county of North Carolina indicates that these benefits can be substantial, and it provides a template for expanding the methods and findings geographically.