Systemwide Events Calendar
Water Resources Seminar
March 15, 3:00pm - 4:00pmManoa Campus, MSB 114
"Dams, Dam Removal and River Restoration: A Hedonic Property Value Analysis," Lynne Lewis, Dept. of Economics, Bates College, Lewiston, ME. ABSTRACT: The removal of the Edwards Dam on the Kennebec River in 1999 set a national precedent for removing hydropower dams of marginal value. The removal represented the first time a functioning hydropower facility undergoing relicensing under FERC (the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which licenses hydropower facilities) was removed with the goal of restoring aquatic ecosystems.
Since its removal, anadromous fish, including Atlantic salmon, have returned to the river above the dam site. Benthic aquatic insect populations (a key indicator of ecosystem health used in Maine to document compliance with water quality standards) appear to be growing dramatically. Recreation on the river in the form of fly fishing, canoeing and kayaking has also grown. Upstream dams have faced the need to build fish passage in order to meet the terms of the Kennebec River Restoration Agreement. However, little has been done in the way of post-project research or monitoring. The project has been deemed successful by most observers, but without formal evaluation, few objective measures of ?success? are possible.
This paper presents the results of an ex-post hedonic property value analysis of the area surrounding the former dam site and an upstream area with two hydropower dams. To the best of our knowledge this is one of the first studies to undertake an ex-post analysis of the economic impacts of a dam removal. Data from both before and after the dam was removed are used to estimate changes in marginal prices. A similar data set is also utilized to look at the effects of the remaining upstream dams on property values. We also examine the effects of other environmental variables such as the river itself, and other amenities such as open space.
Event Sponsor
Water Resources Research Center, Manoa
More Information
Philip Moravcik, 956-3097, morav@hawaii.edu, http://www.wrrc.hawaii.edu/seminars/lewisseminar.htm
| Thursday, March 15 | |
| 8:30am | Pacific Collections Conference Imin Conference Center |
| 8:30am | SHAPS Graduate Student Conference Panels Center for Korean Studies |
| 12:00pm | Brown Bag Biography: Gilbert Highet and Helen MacInnes Henke 325 |
| 12:00pm | Geography Colloquium Saunders Hall 443B |
| 12:00pm | Music Final Oral MR 221 |
| 1:30pm | Allan Punzalan Isaac Lecture: Queer for Uncle Sam Queen Liliuokalani Center for Student Services, 412 |
| 3:00pm | Anthropology Colloquium Series Series Spring Semester 2007 Crawford Hall 115 |
| 3:00pm | Water Resources Seminar MSB 114 |
| 3:30pm | Richard Alley Seminar Architecture Auditorium |
| 4:00pm | English Final Oral Kuykendall Hall Room 409 |
| 4:00pm | Windward Women's History Month: Senator Hanabusa Talk Hale Akoakoa 105 |
| 7:00pm | Silent Sentinels and Reefs: Rainforests of the Ocean Spalding Auditorium |
| 7:00pm | LGBTI Film Series: "Beautiful Boxer" Architecture Auditorium |
| 7:30pm | Archaeology Lecture Honolulu Academy of Arts Doris Duke Theatre |
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