Valuing Florida’s Clean Waters

The report estimates the annual value of improving Florida's water quality between $1.3 billion and $10.5 billion, highlighting the severe economic and ecological impacts of nutrient pollution and harmful algae outbreaks.

• Nutrient pollution, specifically from nitrogen and phosphorus, fuels harmful algae outbreaks that cause massive fish kills by depleting oxygen and can produce toxins that make humans and pets ill.
• Human-induced nutrient pollution is a primary driver of water impairment in Florida; as of 2010, 53% of assessed river miles and 82% of assessed lake acres had nutrient-related impairments.
• The report estimates the total annual use and non-use values related to Florida's water-quality improvements to range from $1.286 billion to $10.5 billion in 2010 dollars.
• The EPA's 2010 economic analysis is critiqued for underestimating benefits by using arbitrary values for part-time residents and failing to account for the willingness-to-pay of non-Florida U.S. residents.
• Harmful algae outbreaks, such as red tides caused by Karenia species, have significant commercial impacts, including reducing daily restaurant and lodging revenues in coastal communities by 29% and 35% respectively.
• Nitrate pollution has severely impacted Florida's springs, with levels at Silver Springs reaching 1,000 times the normal level, leading to the replacement of native ecosystems with toxigenic blue-green algae.
• The authors conclude that the primary obstacle to a rigorous economic assessment of Florida's clean water is the lack of high-quality, time-series data on localized water quality changes caused by human actions.

APA

Stanton, E. A., & Taylor, M. (2012). Valuing Florida’s Clean Waters. Earthjustice. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/valuingfloridascleanwaters.pdf

Chicago

Stanton, Elizabeth A., and Matthew Taylor. Valuing Florida’s Clean Waters. Earthjustice, 2012. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/valuingfloridascleanwaters.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Stanton |first1=Elizabeth A. |last2=Taylor |first2=Matthew |title=Valuing Florida’s Clean Waters |publisher=Earthjustice |date=13 November 2012 |url=https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/valuingfloridascleanwaters.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stanton2012valuing, author = {Stanton, Elizabeth A. and Taylor, Matthew}, title = {{Valuing Florida’s Clean Waters}}, institution = {Earthjustice}, year = {2012}, month = nov, url = {https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/valuingfloridascleanwaters.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }