CEnREP Associate Director receives major U.S. EPA award to study the economic value of improving water quality in the Southeast.
Roger von Haefen, CEnREP Associate Director and Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics at NC State, is the lead Principal Investigator on a newly awarded $800,000 EPA grant. Dr. von Haefen, along with his project team, will work with local communities in order to better understand the economic value of improving water quality in North Carolina as well as other southeastern states. The multi-disciplinary research team also includes Laura Taylor, CEnREP Director, and Daniel Obenour, Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, as well as economists and natural scientists from RTI International and University of Maryland.
Read more in the following EPA news release, also available here.
EPA Awards North Carolina State University Funding to Research Water Quality Benefits
Contact Information:
Davina Marraccini (Marraccini.Davina@epa.gov)
ATLANTA– Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC is one of six universities awarded a total of $4.8 million in funding to work with local communities to better understand the economic value of water quality.
“Clean water is a cornerstone of a healthy community. Many communities face challenging decisions about investing in the protection of water resources,” said Thomas Burke, EPA science advisory and deputy assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “These grants will help measure the costs and benefits of improving water quality, an important step toward protecting the environment and human health.”
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C., will develop and demonstrate methods for valuing the benefits of water quality in wadeable streams in Southeast watersheds where the surrounding area is undergoing increased urban development.
Chemical and microbial contaminants continue to reduce the quality of our water – and often at a rate that outpaces water quality improvements from regulatory actions. The research grants announced today will help communities and experts conduct benefit-cost analyses for actions that protect our waterways.
This research will also provide a critical link between water quality science and the monetary value of the services that healthy waterways provide, including recreational uses.
The five remaining recipients of the grant are Clark University, Worcester, Mass., Dartmouth College, Hanover, N.H., University of Connecticut, Storrs, Conn., Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich., and Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.
More information about the grants announced today: https://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipients.display/rfa_id/583/records_per_page/ALL
More information about these grants: www.epa.gov/research-grants/water-research-grants