Informing stormwater management: Homeowner preferences and past environmental experiences

This study uses a discrete choice experiment to estimate Florida homeowners' willingness to pay (WTP) for stormwater pond ecosystem services and landscape attributes. Using data from 1237 homeowner association residents, we find positive WTP for ecosystem services and higher planting diversity. Homeowners are willing to pay monthly premiums of up to $32.46 for enhanced flood control, $19.48 for improved nitrogen removal efficiency, and $22.24 for more diverse pond buffer zone plants. Their preferences over planting pattern are mixed: they favor the manicured over the intermediate pattern but are indifferent between manicured and naturalistic patterns. Past experience with environmental hazards significantly influences preferences. Respondents with street or parking lot flooding experience hold higher WTP for flood control ($8.24/month), while those with more severe flooding (basement or entire house) hold lower WTP. Effects of past water-quality experience are weaker and do not survive correction for multiple testing. These findings suggest that retrofit and outreach strategies may be more effective when informed by past flooding experience, and that Florida's stormwater regulations can be refined to support ponds that both deliver their ecosystem services and align with community landscape preferences.