Tradeoffs of Ecosystem Services from Wetlands in the Houston Region
L. James Lester1, Gregory R. Biddinger1 and Lisa A. Gonzalez1
1HARC, The Woodlands, TX, USA
Galveston Bay Watershed Ecosystem Services Planning WorkshopSeptember 27, 2011 – Day 1 Workshop
All presentations are loaded on the GBESS website at:http://gbess.harc.edu/AgendaPresentations/tabid/2143/Default.aspx
White paper developed-The Valuation of Ecosystem Services with Relevance to the Lower Galveston Bay Watershed
Authored By: Eric Biltonen, Greg Biddinger, Jim Lester, Kenneth Bagstad, Richard Bernknopf, Marc Russell, David Saah, David Yoskowitz, and Kendra Williamson
The Starting Point: ES Workshop
Workshop supported development of local land use decision support system based on ecosystem services.
Initial focus should be “Water, Wetlands and Flooding”
Classification of Final Ecosystem Goods and Services (EPA)- Wetlands and Estuaries
Ecosystem Attributes◦ Water quality◦ Water amount◦ Plants and
animals◦ Sensory
experience
Human beneficiaries◦ Residential◦ Industry◦ Transportation◦ Government
agencies◦ Recreational
interests◦ Cultural groups◦ Agriculture◦ Subsistence users
Wetland Services vs. Land ValueMajor positive benefits of urban wetlands
◦ Stormwater retention◦ Nutrient and pollutant assimilation◦ Habitat◦ Climate amelioration (heat island effect)
Major issues with urban wetland protection◦ Loss of land value if undeveloped◦ Increased cost of development and infrastructure if
wetlands protected◦ Lack of regulatory and nonregulatory frameworks
for protection at various levels of government
LU/LC Map of Houston 2008
No DataDevelopedAgriculture/GrasslandForestWetlandBareOpen Water
Legend
Houston-Galveston Area Council
Harris County and Wetlands Harris County is currently 16.7% floodplain
◦ Reduced by development◦ Neighboring counties are 21% – 46% floodplain
Texas Coast palustrine wetlands (prairie pothole complexes)◦ Typical size 0.5 ac – 25 ac◦ Typical depth 3 in – 16 in
Typical palustrine wetland stores 76% - 93% of annual input (Forbes et al. 2010)
From 1996 – 2005 Harris County lost ~4,100 acres of palustrine wetlands to development (0.3% per year)
Functional Analysis of Local Palustrine Wetland in 2008 - 2009(Forbes et al. 2010)
Prairie Pothole Wetland Complexes in Harris County
Flood Damage in Harris County
Tropical Storm Allison June 2001 (Extreme)◦Precipitation up to 37 inches in 4 days◦30,662 insurance claims (>45,000 homes
damaged)◦$1,103,765,221 total cost
Flood Damage 1996 – 2007◦$1,162,105,186 total◦Non-Allison = $58,339,965
High Rainfall & Flooding Are CommonHigh Monthly Rainfall Amounts
◦July 2005 = 12.96 inches◦October 2006 = 19.26 inches◦April 2009 = 15.61 inches
April 18, 2009 flood ◦ 5 deaths◦ 350 homes flooded◦ $3.5 million in damages
NWF Study of Insured Flood Losses (Higher Ground 1998)FEMA Database ‘78 – ‘95 (Claudette
79 and Alicia 83)Houston & Harris County had 3,681
properties with repetitive flood loss2.9 losses per property over 18 years$211.5 million paid out (no uninsured
losses included)
Wetland Permits and Flooding* (Trading Wetlands for Development)11,149 Section 404 permits in Texas coastal
counties 1991 – 2003 42% affecting palustrine wetlands
◦ Limited protection (2001 and 2006 supreme court rulings)
Permits in 100 year floodplain in USACE Galveston District ◦ 1991 – 2003: 32% - 41% annually
Each permit on average increases flood damage by $212 per flood (urban permits are costliest)*Brody et al. 2011
Brody et al. 2012
The Economic TradeoffUrban wetlands retain storm water and
provide other valuable servicesUrban areas have high demand for land
◦ Undeveloped floodplain land in Harris County is $40K to $1M per acre
Development in Gulf Coast urban areas creates high wetland conversion activity
Profit from wetland conversion results in costs from flood damage
Economic Value of Palustrine WetlandsEconomic cost of wetland conversion is cumulative
and long termValues for development or flood mitigation are
greatest in intensively developed areaFlood damage avoidance can be improved by
protection of ecosystem services◦ Land development codes and protected areas have
highest negative correlation to flood damage (Brody et al. 2011)
Land use decisions currently favor economics of wetland destruction and structural flood mitigation
Information GapsEffect and value of wetland
mitigation policyLocal spatial analysis of economic
values and impactsAbility of low impact development/
storm water retention designs to replace wetland benefits
Next StepsFunding for metro Houston
projectCompilation of local ecological
and economic dataSpatial modeling of ecosystem
services production functionsDemonstration project of
ecosystem services value in NW Harris County
Outreach to developers and local government development authorities