&EPA
www.epa.gov
science BRIEF
BUILDING A SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATION FOR SOUND ENVIRONMENTAL DECISIONS
National Risk Management
Research Laboratory
www.epa.gov/nrmrl/
Regional Sustainable Environmental Management
Regional sustainable environmental man-
agement is an interdisciplinary effort to
develop a sufficient understanding of the
interactions between ecosystems, the econ-
omy, law, and technology to formulate
effective long-term management strategies
on a regional scale.
Regional sustainable environmental man-
agement aims to apply practical metrics of
sustainability to on-the-ground problems.
The goal is to develop robust and common
-sense methodologies to manage environ-
mental issues, while preserving economic
prosperity and social well-being over the
long term.
Progress
As a result of this research, numerous con-
cepts and models have been developed and
documented in peer-reviewed publications.
Concepts include dynamic order, Fisher
Information as a measure of order, and the
application of green net regional product,
exergy, emergy, and ecological footprint.
The San Luis Basin Pilot
Project
EPA's research projects include the San
Luis Basin Pilot Project. The goal of this
project is to measure movement toward or
away from sustainability in regions in or-
der to formulate effective long-term man-
agement strategies.
Project Description
The environmental system under study —
the San Luis Valley and the Upper Rio
Grande River Basin— are in south-central
Colorado. The researchers refer to this
region as the San Luis Basin and it in-
cludes the counties of Alamosa, Conejos,
Costilla, Hinsdale, Mineral, Rio Grande,
and Saguache.
The San Luis Basin was chosen as the
pilot study site because of the natural
boundaries and because much of the land
is publicly owned. Moreover, it will fos-
ter a partnership on sustainability between
EPA Region 8 and EPA's Office of Re-
search and Development, and expand ex-
isting partnerships with land management
agencies that are in Region 8, such as the
National Park Service, the U.S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture's Forest Service, the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the
Bureau of Land Management.
A notable site in the San Luis Basin is the
Great Sand Dunes National Park and Pre-
serve. A predominant feature of this site
is the Great Sand Dunes, a 62.8-square-
kilometer (3 9-square-mile) active dune
field that includes the:
• Highest dunes in North America
• Unique sabhka, or sand-sheet, wetlands
• Dramatic and remote Sangre de Cristo
mountain range
Objectives
The objectives of the San Luis Basin Pilot
Project are to:
• Determine the applicability of using
existing, publicly available datasets to
test metrics of sustainability at a re-
gional level
• Calculate sustainability metrics
through time
• Compare the response of different
metrics to determine how each responds and
whether different parts of the system are
moving toward or away from sustainability
Metrics of Sustainability
Scientists are investigating sustainability met-
rics from economic, social, and environmental
perspectives to determine the applicability at a
regional level. Researchers have selected four
metrics from the scientific literature and, over a
26-year period, are calculating the metrics for
the San Luis Basin. The sustainability metrics
selected to characterize the regional systems
are:
• Dynamic order or organization estimated
from Fisher Information
• Environmental burden characterized by the
Ecological Footprint
• Flow and conservation of energy resources
through the system as computed from an
Emergy Budget
• Regional economic health ascertained from
Green Net Regional Product
Multiple metrics were chosen because no single
metric will provide sufficient information about
the sustainability of a system and can be used
by planners for adaptive management. The
idea is to devise a methodology that can be
used to monitor the overall stability of a system
through time and that can be applied to systems
of various sizes. Results for each metric will
demonstrate the importance of using multiple
metrics to examine the sustainability of a sys-
tem and to identify aspects of the system that
are not sustainable. Such information will en-
able planners to move toward a more sustain-
able path for their region.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Research Laboratory
EPA/600/F-10/016
September 2010
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Project Team
Lead: M. Heberling, EPA-ORD-NRMRL
Lead: M. Hopton, EPA-ORD-NRMRL
H. Cabezas, EPA-ORD-NRMRL
D. Campbell, EPA-ORD-NHEERL
T. Eason, EPA-ORD-NRMRL
A. Garmestani, EPA-ORD-NRMRL
D. White, ORD-EPA-NHEERL
M. Zanowick: EPA Region 8
Expertise
Because of this multidimensional approach,
the research requires an interdisciplinary
methodology. The expertise needed includes
scientists who are able to estimate the metrics
as well as those who are able to involve
stakeholders and understand the needs of pol-
icy makers. The following areas of expertise
are involved in this research:
• Ecologists
• Economists
• Engineers
• Geographers
• Outreach
• Policy & Law
Collaborators
F. Bunch, A. Hutchinson, A. Valdez:
National Park Service, Great Sand Dunes
National Park and Preserve
M. Britten: National Park Service Research
M. Hoffman, R. Weston: Adams State
College
J. Stump: San Luis Valley Development
Resource Group
S. Vandiver: Rio Grande Conservation
District
R. Sparks: U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Pictured above are some of the dunes in the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve in the San
Luis Valley of Colorado (Photo by A. Karunanithi, 2007). Front photographs: Left—The Alamosa Photo-
voltaic Solar Plant is taking advantage of the abundant solar radiation in the area and will generate 8.2
megawatts of electricity, sufficient to supply approximately 1500 homes (http://
www.renewableenergyworld.com; Photo by A. Karunanithi, 2007). Right—Soil blown from nearby farm-
land piles up on snow drifts. Wind erosion is a major component of the processes affecting the valley
and is economically important (Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS).
Publications (reprints available upon request)
US EPA. (In review). San Luis Basin Sustainability Metrics Project: A Time-Series Methodology for
Managing Regional Sustainability . Draft EPA Report. United States Environmental Protection
Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Research Laboratory, Cin-
cinnati, Ohio.
Hopton, M. E., et al. 2010. Development of a multidisciplinary approach to assess regional Sustain-
ability. International Journal for Sustainable Development & World Ecology 17(l):48-56.
Heberling, M. and J. Templeton. 2009. Estimating the Economic Value of National Parks With Count
Data Models Using On-Site, Secondary Data: The Case of the Great Sand Dunes National Park and
Preserve. Environmental Management 43(4):619-627.
Karunanithi, A. T., H. Cabezas, R. Frieden, and C. Pawlowski. 2008. Detection and assessment of
ecosystem regime shifts from Fisher information. Ecology and Society 13(1):22. [online] URL: http://
www.ecologyandsociety.org/voll3/issl/art22/
Mayer, A.L., C.W. Pawlowski, B.D. Path, and H. Cabezas. 2007. Applications of Fisher Information
to the Management of Sustainable Environmental Systems. In: Exploratory Data Analysis Using
Fisher Information. Edited by B.R. Frieden and R.A. Gatenby. Springer-Verlag, London.
Cabezas, H. 2006. On Energy and Sustainability. Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy
8:143-145.
Mayer, A.L., C.W. Pawlowski, and H. Cabezas. 2006. Fisher Information and Dynamic Regime
Changes in Ecological Systems. Ecological Modelling 195:72-82.
Cabezas, H., P.W. Pawlowski, A.L. Mayer, and N.T. Hoagland. 2005. Sustainable Systems Theory:
Ecological and Other Aspects. Journal of Cleaner Production 13:455^167.
Pawlowski, C.W., B.D. Path, A.L. Mayer, and H. Cabezas. 2005. Towards a Sustainability Index
Using Information Theory. Energy 30(8): 1221-1231.
Mayer, A.L., H.W. Thurston, and C.W. Pawlowski. 2004. The Multidisciplinary Influence of Com-
mon Sustainability Indices. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 2, 8:419^26.
Cabezas, H., C.W. Pawlowski, A.L. Mayer, and N.T. Hoagland. 2003. Sustainability: Ecological,
Social, Economic, Technological, and Systems Perspectives. Clean Technologies and Environmental
Policy 5:1-14.
Recycled/Recyclable
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processed chlorine free.
Contacts
Matthew Hopton, Ph.D.
hopton.matthew@epa.gov
(513)569-7718
Matthew Heberling, Ph.D.
heberling.matt@epa.gov
(513)569-7917
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Research and Development, National Risk Management Research Laboratory
Heriberto Cabezas, Ph.D.
cabezas.heriberto@epa.gov
(513)569-7350
EPA/600/F-10/016
September 2010
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