At the end of 2022, Earth Economics completed a report for The Nature Conservancy in Oklahoma, Benefit-Cost Analysis of Best Management Practices in the Blue River Watershed of Oklahoma. This report is an extension of an earlier analysis conducted by Earth Economics, Ecosystem Services in the Blue River Watershed, which estimated $927 million to $1.7 billion per year in nonmarket ecosystem services provided within the basin. This report includes a Benefit-Cost Analyses of select Best Management Practices (BMPs) that would improve ecosystem services provisioning: cover cropping, conservation tilling, grazing management, riparian buffers, and removal of the invasive Eastern Red Cedar.
Earth Economics conducted an extensive review of peer-reviewed articles and federal reports to apply Benefit Transfer Methods to estimate the total benefits and costs of BMP implementation. Benefits included increased ecosystem services provisioning (e.g., improvements to soil, water, and air quality) and savings associated with switching practices (e.g., reduced fuel consumption, increased forage, grazing fee income). Costs extend to labor and materials for implementation, operations, maintenance. After standardizing benefits and costs (e.g., per acre, per year), Earth Economics scaled relevant benefits and costs by the landcover types associated with each BMP within the watershed.
Assuming BMPs are implemented on 1-percent, 5-percent, and 25-percent of each landcover type, each discounted at multiple rates over a 50-year project period, Earth Economics reported a range of net present benefits and benefit-cost ratios. Across these scenarios, we found that implementing BMPs would provide net present benefits between $19.3 million and $2.8 billion, with benefit-cost ratios ranging from 1.46 to 6.72. Next steps for this project would include selecting implementation sites and surveying current and planned practices.