Assessment of Goods And Valuation of Ecosystem Services (AGAVES) San Pedro River Basin, U.S./Mexico


EPA/600/F-10/015
May 2010
Assessment of Goods And Valuation of Ecosystem Services (AGAVES)
San Pedro River Basin, U.S./Mexico
A consortium of federal, academic, and non-government
organizations (NGO) partners have established a collaborative
research enterprise in the San Pedro River Basin to develop
methods, standards, and tools to assess and value ecosystem
goods and services. The central premise of ecosystem services
research is that human condition is intrinsically linked to the
environment and that human health and well-being (including
economic prosperity) depends on important supporting,
regulating, provisioning, and cultural services that we derive
from our surrounding ecosystems. The AGAVES project is
intended as a demonstration study for incorporating ecosystem
services information into resource management policy and
decision making. Accordingly, a nested, multi-scale project
design has been adopted to address a range of stakeholder information requirements. This design
will further facilitate an evaluation of the degree to which methods can be transferred to other
areas.
The San Pedro River originates in Sonora, Mexico and flows north into southeastern Arizona. In
1988, Congress designated portions of the San Pedro River Valley as the San Pedro Ripari an
National Conservation Area (SPRNCA), the first designation of its kind in the nation. The
legislation directed the Interior Secretary to conserve, protect, and enhance the riparian, wildlife,
archaeological, paleontological, scientific, cultural, educational, and recreational resources of the
conservation area. The SPRNCA, managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), hosts a
rich riparian community with vital habitat for resident and migrant species.
Decades of groundwater overdraft have significantly reduced base flows in the San Pedro River
Rapid urbanization and forecasted climate change both serve to exacerbate this problem. The
Upper San Pedro Partnership (USPP) was formed in 1998 as a consortium of 21 federal, state
and local agencies and organizations that were to assist in meeting the long-term water needs of
the SPRNCA and of the area residents. In November 2003, the U.S. Congress passed legislation
requiring the Secretary of the Interior, in
consultation with the Secretaries of
Defense and Agriculture, and in
cooperation with the USPP, to restore and
maintain sustainable yield of the regional
aquifer by and after September 30, 2011.
The San Pedro's unique combination of
existing data, previous research,
established partnerships, and stakeholder
commitment, together with a serious
management challenge, creates the perfect
test bed for ecosystem services research,
as well as an evaluation of the efficacy of
the approach for facilitating decisions by
resource managers.
Photo Credit: Jerry Jacka

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Ecosystem Services derived from the San Pedro River Basin
Ecosystems provide society with a range of natural services and functions, collectively known as ecosystem
services. Some of the sendees provided by the urban, riparian, riverine, agricultural and rangeland ecosystems
in the San Pedro Basin are illustrated in the photos below. They include providing clean drinking water, shelter
and food for wildlife, birds, and humans, clean air, recreation opportunities, stable soils, and regulating the
climate by removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. Several of these services or processes produce
benefits that have utility or satisfy want and can be translated into goods that can be accounted for by society
through market trading (e.g., carbon offsets, reforestation subsidies). Often, however, the means to values and
market trade have not been determined (e.g., conserving rare species and open spaces). In addition, we often
have a poor understanding of the tradeoffs and synergies among bundles of ecosystem services. AGAVES seeks
to determine how to quantify , value, and account for goods, some of which may be amenable to trading directly
in markets. By understanding the value of ecosystem services, decision makers (e.g., city managers) will be
better prepared to accurately weigh the benefits of policies and management actions designed to meet
stakeholder objectives. The aim of AGAVES is to develop computer-based tools to explore the impact of
management decisions. Realizing that water is fundamental for the generation of most ecosystem services,
AGAVES will concentrate initially on the benefits and tradeoffs associated with protecting, restoring, and
managing ecosystems under the stress of drought which could result from changes in our climate brought on by
the build up of greenhouse gases (e.g., carbon dioxide and methane) in our atmosphere.
sy Sirnmons 6. Buntin
A prolonged drought in the San Pedro could force policy makers to have to choose how to allocate precious
ground and surface waters among urban, agricultural ranching, cultural, and ecological interests. AGAVES will
develop a computer based decision support tool that enables the consideration of alternative versions of the
future based on different approaches for allocating waters, managing ecosystems under a changed climate and
growing human demands.
For Further Information Contact
David Goodrich
USDA-ARS SW Watershed Research Center
Dave.Goodrich@ars.usda.gov
Nita Tallent-Halsell or William Kepner
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
T al ent-Hal sell ,Ni ta@epa. gov
Kepner.William@epa.gov
Darius Semmens
USGS Rocky Mtn. Geographic Science Center
dsemmens@usgs.gov
Or visit us on the Web at:
http://rmgsc.cr.usgs.gov/agaves/
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