The USACE is offering this grant to develop a web-based decision framework for evaluating ecosystem services in water resource projects

This project will establish an interdisciplinary collaboration between USACE and a University partner. This collaboration will develop a decision-framework to measure the value of ecosystem services from current and proposed water resource projects delivered via a web-based portal. This decision support framework will enable planners and managers to enter a limited number of relevant criteria and parameters and receive an estimate for the value of various ecosystem services. Estimation of the value of ecosystem services for proposed projects may be positive or negative depending on proposed changes. Anticipated ecosystem services that will be valued may include: water quality, recreation, harvest, species protection, wetland protection, carbon sequestration, open space, and flood protection. Successful proposals will also (a) clearly identify question(s) the proposed project will seek to answer (i.e., project technical objectives); (b) clearly describe the tasks and data required to answer those question(s) (i.e., data quality objectives); and (c) describe envisioned project deliverables by task and by year. Proposals that demonstrate intent to maximize use of existing federal and other organizations ecosystem services programs, initiatives and data are encouraged. Successful proposals will identify quantitative and qualitative success criteria for each project task and objective; identification of go/no-go decision points at the end of each year is also encouraged.

This project will:

1)     Review and determine appropriate metrics to measure the value of ecosystem services that capture appropriate aspects of proposed water resource projects and currently public lands associated with water resource management.

2)     Estimates of the value of ecosystem services (quantitative and semi-quantitative) will be derived from the best available data in the environmental economics literature through a thorough review of the relevant literature and meta-analyses that allow for more accurate transfer of estimate values in the literature to projects.

3)     Develop and test an ecosystem services evaluation decision support framework.

4)     Deliver ecosystem services evaluation decision support framework via web-based portal.

5)     Perform an in-depth assessment of the value of ecosystem services that are generated from oyster reef restoration using economic experiments and/or other methods.

Findings will be reported to the public through technical reports, technical notes, journal articles, presentations, attendance of In Progress Reviews, as appropriate and needed.