Land-use change and costs to rural households: a case study in groundwater nitrate contamination

Land-use change and costs to rural households: a case study in groundwater nitrate contamination

2014

Loss of grassland from conversion to agriculture threatens water quality and other valuable ecosystem services. Here we estimate how land-use change affects the probability of groundwater contamination by nitrate in private drinking water wells. We find that conversion of grassland to agriculture from 2007 to 2012 in Southeastern Minnesota is expected to increase the future number of wells exceeding 10 ppm nitrate-nitrogen by 45% (from 888 to 1292 wells). We link outputs of the groundwater well contamination model to cost estimates for well remediation, well replacement, and avoidance behaviors to estimate the potential economic value lost due to nitrate contamination from observed land-use change. We estimate $0.7–12 million in costs (present values over a 20 year horizon) to address the increased risk of nitrate contamination of private wells. Our study demonstrates how biophysical models and economic valuation can be integrated to estimate the welfare consequences of land-use change.

Keeler, Bonnie L
Polasky, Stephen

U of M- Inst on the Environment

10

Groundwater
Water Monitoring & Assessment

nitrogen
nitrogens
groundwater
ground water
ground-water
groundwaters
well
wells
valuation
valuating
valuing
valuate
valuates
valuated
ecosystem service
ecosystem's service
ecosystems service
ecosystem services
grassland
grasslands
water economics
ag
agriculture

2010-2019

Yes

Public Domain

Minnesota Water Research Digital Library