Wetlands, Flooding, and the Clean Water Act
Abstract
In 2020 the Environmental Protection Agency narrowed the definition of "waters of the United States," significantly limiting wetland protection under the Clean Water Act. Current policy debates center on the uncertainty around wetland benefits. We estimate the value of wet-lands for flood mitigation across the United States using detailed flood claims and land use data. We find the average hectare of wetland lost between 2001 and 2016 cost society $1,840 annually, and over $8,000 in developed areas. We document significant spatial heterogeneity in wetland benefits, with implications for flood insurance policy and the 50 percent of "isolated " wetlands at risk of losing federal protection. (JEL K32, Q24, Q25, Q53, Q58)
Copyright and License
© 2022 American Economic Association.
Acknowledgement
We thank Solomon Hsiang, Geoffrey Heal, Joseph Shapiro, Wolfram Schlenker, Katherine Wagner, Jeffrey Shrader, Margaret Walls, Max Auffhammer, four anonymous referees, and participants in the OSWEET Workshop, AERE Summer Conference, and NBER Environment and Energy Economics Meeting for helpful comments and suggestions. Druckenmiller's work on this manuscript was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant DGE 1106400. Opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not reflect the views of supporting organizations.
Conflict of Interest
AER Disclosure Statement
Charles A. Taylor: The author previously worked for The Earth Partners LP, a sustainable land investment company with an interest in mitigation banking (employment ended 2016). Author retains a financial interest in the company and position on the board. No financial payments have been received related to the research described in the paper entitled "Wetlands, Flooding, and the Clean Water Act."
Hannah Druckenmiller: I declare that I have no relevant or material financial interests that relate to the research described in the paper entitled "Wetlands, Flooding, and the Clean Water Act."
Files
16402.pdf
Files
(4.8 MB)
| Name | Size | Download all |
|---|---|---|
|
md5:8673369a72cf237179ed507b4c682fb6
|
3.1 MB | Preview Download |
|
md5:44787567aab194c832e48248890cfd0c
|
1.8 MB | Preview Download |
Additional details
Related works
- Is supplemented by
- Dataset: 10.3886/E153221V1 (DOI)
Dates
- Available
-
2022-04published print