Estimating the Benefits of an Improvement in Water Quality and Flow Regulation: Case study of the Doubs

This paper evaluates the benefit resulting from an improvement in water quality and flow
regulation in the Doubs, a river at the border between Switzerland and France. The river’s
biodiversity is nowadays threatened by pollution and large flow variations caused by
hydropower plants. A hypothetical travel cost method is used, to estimate the economic
value of recreational fishing in the Doubs under the current situation (2010) and under a
hypothetical improvement. Thus, 225 anglers stated in a mail survey (June 2011), their
behavior under the two situations. Since each angler reported the number of visits for up to
3 fishing sites, a correlated random effects model could be estimated. This method allows a
better control for unobserved heterogeneity. By comparing consumer surplus estimations
under the two situations, the annual benefit of an improvement in water quality and flow
regulation ranges, from 1450 CHF to 1700 CHF per angler. Since recreational use is only a
small part of the total economic value of the river, these estimations are not sufficient to give
a complete measure of the economic benefits of the river’s restoration. However, an ex ante
appraisal of a part of these benefits is useful for policy makers for comparison with eventual
costs of restoration.

Master Thesis