Valuation analysis in erosion control activities

Abstract

Many market and non-market goods and services are generated via erosion control activities. Prices of market goods and services are readily available and are regarded as indicators of their value. However, to determine the monetary value of non-market goods and services, special valuation methods such as Contingent Valuation Method, BenefitTransfer Method, Hedonic Pricing Method and Choice Experiments Method need to be used. This study attempts to estimate the values of four non-market benefits (namely, postpone of flood occurrence, prevention of soil erosion, increase dam life and increase access to spring water) generated via the Cakit Stream Basin Erosion Control Project executed in Adana and Nigde Provinces of Turkey. The marginal values of these benefits were estimated via Choice Experiments Method. A customized face-to-face survey was conducted among 300 respondents in order to meet the data requirements of this evaluation method. The basin residents' willingness to pay for the examined benefits was determined via an assessment of the collected data using Multinomial Logit Model. The results reveal that, respondents would pay for one year postpone of flood occurrence; 4.43 Turkish Liras for one percent prevention of soil erosion; 0.25 Turkish Liras one year increase for dam life; and 2.13 Turkish Liras one percent increase for access to spring water.