Athens, Georgia – When decision-makers consider whether to invest in nature-based infrastructure, they often don’t have the full financial picture. A new University of Georgia study aims to change that. Researchers at UGA’s Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (IRIS), in partnership with the Walton Family Foundation, developed a more comprehensive method for calculating the true costs and benefits of natural infrastructure solutions. The model was applied to two real-world sites—a levee on the Missouri River and beaver dam analogs throughout the Colorado River Basin—and found the returns were striking.
For the Missouri River levee setback, every $1 invested generated more than $3 in benefits, with a projected 50-year return of $369.4 million. For the beaver dam analogs—devices that mimic the function of natural beaver dams—every $1 invested returned $8 in benefits, with ecosystem services adding up to a net benefit of nearly $400,000.
“This study illustrates that accounting for ecosystem services can be a game changer when deciding on the economic feasibility of nature-based solutions,” said Susana Ferreira, Professor of Agricultural and Applied Economics and IRIS affiliate. “We use benefit-cost analysis the way it’s meant to be used—to measure all the costs and benefits a project generates.”
The key to those numbers: counting what traditional analyses leave out. Conventional benefit-cost analyses often fail to account for the services that natural features provide—clean air and water, flood reduction, habitat, and recreation. By incorporating those ecosystem services into their calculations, the researchers were able to show what natural infrastructure is actually worth.
Added IRIS co-director and project lead Brock Woodson: “Accurate accounting shows that natural systems are not only cost-effective—in many cases, they should be the preferred course of action.”
In the case of the levee setback assessment, the setback in the study represented less than 20 miles of the more than 20,000 miles of existing levees (<1%) in the Mississippi Basin. This research demonstrates how NBS on relatively small scales can have a huge impact–and how accelerating adoption based on small wins will have even bigger impacts. Extending levee setbacks to 25% of the basin would translate into more than $10 billion in benefits.”
“Working with the power of nature is the best way to ultimately produce cleaner water, reduce flooding, expand recreation opportunities, and ensure our communities are more resilient,” said Moira Mcdonald, Director of the Environment Program for the Walton Family Foundation. “This research has the potential to accelerate adoption of natural solutions in communities across the country.”
Learn more about the levee setback case study.
Access the full report here.
Learn more about the beaver dam analog case study.
Access the full report here.
About the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems
The Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (IRIS) is working toward a more resilient future by using interdisciplinary research to discover innovative ways to combine natural and conventional infrastructure.