An Integrated Assessment Model for Valuing Water Quality Changes in the U.S

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Water Resource Management
• Environmental Economics

Background:

• The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) needs to analyze policy impacts on water quality, requiring interdisciplinary expertise.
• Existing assessment methods necessitated the development of advanced modeling tools for comprehensive analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and discuss the development of two integrated models: HAWQS and BenSPLASH.
• To apply these models to a case study in the Republican River Basin to evaluate water quality policy benefits.

Main Methods:

• Development of HAWQS, a web-based system for water quantity and quality modeling.
• Development of BenSPLASH, a platform for quantifying economic benefits of water quality changes.
• Application of both HAWQS and BenSPLASH to a case study within the Republican River Basin.

Main Results:

• The paper details the development process of the HAWQS and BenSPLASH models.
• The study demonstrates the application of these integrated models in a real-world river basin scenario.
• The findings provide insights into the benefits of water quality policy decisions.

Conclusions:

• HAWQS and BenSPLASH provide a robust framework for integrated water quality assessment.
• The models facilitate the quantification of economic benefits linked to improved water quality.
• The Republican River Basin case study showcases the practical utility of the integrated assessment approach.