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 • The 2005 Great
Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy (GLRC Strategy) is a $26 billion federal-state plan, for cleaning
and preserving the Great Lakes that will produce economic benefits
well in excess of its costs.
• The GLRC Strategy proposes
a goal to restore all of the Great Lakes Areas of Concern by 2020.
Congressional appropriations to do so would total more than $775
million over the next 5 years.
• "Developing
America’s
North Coast" presented two approaches in estimating the benefits
of the GLRC Strategy: the economic benefits of specific improvements
and the aggregated economic benefits.
Direct economic benefits
of specific improvements include:
• Restoring the Great Lakes
will lead to direct economic benefits of $6.5 – $11.8 billion
from tourism, fishing and recreation alone.
• Restoring
the Great Lakes will directly raise coastal
property values $12
billion to $19 billion by remediation of the Areas of Concern
• Restoring
the Great Lakes will reduce costs to municipalities by $50 to
$125 million.
• Restoring the Great Lakes will produce
additional unquantifiable but significant economic activity by
making the region more attractive to business and workers.
NOTE: These direct
economic benefits total approximately $50
billion.
Aggregate economic
benefits were arrived at by estimating the increase in property
values that are likely to result from all of the restoring activities,
and also taking into account a “multiplier effect”.
In other words, every $1 spent by a fiscal authority results in
additional spending of between 1.5 and 2.5 times the original investment.
NOTE: Aggregate economic benefits that take into
account the multiplier effect are estimated to total approximately
$30 to $50 billion.
(Information included here is
from the report, “Healthy
Waters, Strong Economy: The Benefits of Restoring the Great Lakes
Ecosystem,”, by J.C. Austin, S. Anderson, P.N. Courant, R.E.
Litan, Sept. 2007, The Brookings Institution – Great Lakes
Economic Initiative.)
Download
a PDF version of this fact sheet »
Questions? Call Liz
Walsh at (608) 251-9131 x12 or email liz [at] gatheringwaters.org.
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