Valuation of Flood Reductions in the Yellow River Basin under Land Use Change
Publication: Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 136, Issue 1
Abstract
An economic valuation of flood reductions arising from land use changes induced by the Conversion of Cropland to Forest and Grassland Program (CCFGP) in China is detailed in this paper. A distributed hydrologic model is used to analyze and predict changes in the probability of flood occurrences in the Yellow River Basin (YRB) due to revegetation activities under the CCFGP. The expected value of flood reductions due to the avoided flood damage potential is then estimated. Losses brought about by each type of flood in the YRB over time and the probability change in flood occurrences are used in the calculation. Results show that the economic benefits from flood reductions will total China Yuan 362 million during 2010–2020. The inclusion of this economic benefit into a benefit-cost analysis of the CCFGP provides a more comprehensive assessment of the program. Implications for prioritizing management options to mitigate flood disasters in the YRB are drawn.
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Acknowledgments
The research reported in this paper was funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), and by the Innovative Research Group Fund of China Natural Science Foundation Commission (Grant No. UNSPECIFIED50721006). The contributions of Cunwen Niu, Chunmiao Han, Hui Gao, Juan Li, Suhui Shen, Xiangyi Ding, and Hui Peng at the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research (IWHR) are acknowledged.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management
Volume 136 • Issue 1 • January 2010
Pages: 106 - 115
Copyright
© 2010 ASCE.
History
Received: Mar 17, 2008
Accepted: Sep 8, 2009
Published online: Dec 15, 2009
Published in print: Jan 2010
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