WSP06831

• File Number: 8220.106
• Description: Animas-La Plata
• State: CO
• Basin: San Juan/Dolores
• Water Division: 7
• Date: 7/3/1975
• Author: Anderson - Lynch
• Title: Economic Benefits Study - Animas-La Plata Project - January 1978
• Water Supply Pro - Doc Type: Report/Study

TABLE 10

Estimates of Values of A Day in the Wild (1971)

Willingness Willingness
Activity to Pav to Sell
freshwater fishing $ 38.92 $ 46.76
Saltwater fishing 59.80 74.47
Small game hunting 39.14 54.73
Big game hunting 60.86 81.98
Waterfowl hunting 48.99 67.24
Birdwatching 65.40 81.00

Source: John Skow, "Joe Horvath is Adding Up Your Dollars
Happiness," Outdoor Life March, 1977, pp 66+.

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Value to
Non-User
$ 20.50
43.69
22.37
41.34
20.48
27.23
of

The Animas-La Plata Project will provide freshwater fishing,

small game hunting and waterfowl hunting as well as (some may argue)
birdwatching. If one took the value of freshwater fishing ($38.92)

and multiplied it by the number of man days (55,000) the value of

fishing benefits to the project would be approximately $2,140,000.

This figure is stated in terms of 1971 values of "willingness to pay".

Obviously, if one corrected this for inflation the value would be
higher. However, preliminary figures of $27.00 will be used in this

..:!

analysis as a conservative astimate of per day benefits. This results

in a benefit of $1,485,000 for fishing.
Some might argue that the Animas-La Plata Project would actually

.

destroy some big and small game hunting habitats because the Ridges

Basin reservoir will inundate some Colorado-owned land. On the

surface this is correct. One should value small and big game hunter
days (say at $50.00/day (mean of Horvath's two categories)) and then
multiply this by the estimated number of man days lost because of
the location of the reservoir. These dollar figures would then be

23