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<br />Interior, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. WatJ::c Resources Council). <br /> <br />CASE STUDms OF USING NON-MARKET VALUATION TO ATrAlN BALANCED <br />WATER ALLOCATIONS <br /> <br />Mono Lake <br /> <br />One of the first studies to measure the recreation use, existence and bequest values that <br /> <br />citizens have for public trust resources, was a survey of California households regarding <br /> <br />willingness to pay for more watJ::c flows into Mono Lake. The initial academic study involved <br /> <br />a mail survey of California households. They were asked whether they would pay an extra <br /> <br />amount on their watJ::c bill to purchase higher cost replacement water supplies so that a <br /> <br />greater portion of the natural flows could once again go into Mono Lake. They were told that <br /> <br />biologists indicated a higher lake level was needed to maintain food supply for nesting and <br /> <br />migratory birds. Using a repeat mailing approach, the survey attained a 44% response rate. <br /> <br />The mean WTP was $13 per month, translating into $156 per year. When multiplied by the <br /> <br />number of households in California, the total benefits exceeded the replacement costs of $26 <br /> <br />million per year by a factor of 50 (Loomis, 1987). Using a follow-up survey nine months <br /> <br />later, the reliability of the WTP responses was established using the test-retest method <br /> <br />(Loomis, 1989). One impact of the survey results was to change the nature of the debate <br /> <br />over Mono Lake from "300 fish or 30,000 people?" to one of recognizing people cared about <br /> <br />the fish and birds as well as about inexpensive water in Los Angeles. <br /> <br />The State of California determined that information on the general public's WTP for Mono <br /> <br />11 <br />