The Economic Value of Water and Ecosystem Preservation: Ecotourism in the Lower Rio Grande Valley

Summary

Two key elements of the project are to estimate the economic value of water used to sustain the ecosystem, based on an analysis of the Valley's ecotourism sector, and to disseminate the information generated by the project to public officials, state and local agencies and to the public at large.   The project is  comprised of the following tasks: Collect and review existing data and information regarding the ecotourism industry in the Valley, augment existing data with field surveys as needed, compile and analyze information to characterize the economics of ecotourism, review and adapt tourism and agricultural economics methodologies for application to ecotourism, analyze economic value of water in ecotourism industry in the Valley and Community education and outreach.