ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES FOR COASTAL ZONE ALLOCATION DECISIONS

Because of the lack of services necessary for the prediction of estuarine and other coastal or near shore processes, statistics are not available for the determination of the value, or cost/benefit comparisons, of such services. Therefore, a rationale and procedure was developed whereby expert opinion can be used in lieu of statistical treatment. Based on a definition of the services to be provided, the environmental processes which would be quantitatively predicted, and the dependency of major estuarine-dependent income sources on such environmental prediction, a matrix of income dependency coefficients is derived for the case of physical processes in Gulf Coast estuaries. The specific procedure can be implemented by various independent experts and a Delphi procedure used to develop a matrix of coefficients which constitute an expert consensus. The matrix, which is immediately adaptable to computer techniques, can then be used to determine comparative economic values of alternative uses of estuarine areas. The basic rationale and procedure appear to be adaptable to a broader range of coastal zone management problems.

Media Info

  • Pagination: p. 453-71

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00032680
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Marine Technology Society
  • Files: TRIS
  • Created Date: Apr 28 1974 12:00AM