1. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Ecosystem Services and Markets
From Forest to Faucet:
Drinking Water as an Ecosystem Service
Albert H. Todd & Emily Weidner
USDA Forest Service, State & Private Forestry

2. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Ecosystem Services and Markets
How we get water
in our homes…
I don’t have any
Information on this bit

3. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Ecosystem Services and Markets
Project Objectives
1.
Identify areas important to surface drinking
water quality
2. Understand the role of forests in protecting
surface drinking water
3. Identify threats that may affect the forests ability
to provide clean surface drinking water in the
future
4. Identify opportunities for PWS

4. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Limits
• Surface water only
not groundwater
• Drinking water
not aquatic system
health
• Threats to forests
only not industry,
point sources, etc.
Ecosystem Services and Markets

5. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Ecosystem Services and Markets
Collaboration
Science Advisory Team
• Dr. Jim Vose, USFS Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory
• Dr. Tom Brown, USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station
• Dr. Paul Barten, Professor, University of Massachusetts
• Dr. Steve McNulty, USFS Southern Research Station
USFS Project Advisors
• FHTET: Frank Krist and Frank Sapio
• USFS Fire Modeling Insttute: Jim Menekis
• GIS Advisor: Rebecca Whitney Lilja
• NFS: Jean Thomas, Chris Carlson, Rick Swanson
• S&PF: Susan Stein, Karl Dalla Rosa

6. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Ecosystem Services and Markets
Data Sources
• Surface water intakes, EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System
(SDWIS)
• Delineated Sub-watersheds (12-digit HUCs), NRCS/USGS
National Cartography & Geospatial Center
• Forest Land, USGS 2001 National Land Cover Dataset (NLCD)
• Forest Ownership, USFS 2009 NFS Basic Ownership, and Conservation
Biology Institute Protected Areas Database Version 4.
• Development Pressure, David Theobald, 2009, Colorado State
University (same data used in “Forests on the Edge”)
• Insect and Disease Risk, USFS Forest Health Technology Enterprise
Team, National Insect & Disease Risk Map, 2007.
• Wildland Fire Potential, USDA Forest Service, Fire Modeling Institute

7. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Map Scale
• Sub-watersheds =
12-digit HUC,
lt blue lines
• > 88,000 HUCs
• Ave. size =
35 sq mi
Ecosystem Services and Markets

8. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Ecosystem Services and Markets
Three Step Analysis Process
Step 1: Create a watershed index for surface drinking
water importance
- # of consumers, proximity to intakes, water supply
Step 2: Create a watershed index of importance of
forest area to surface drinking water
- step 1 results, and forest area
Step 3: Identify threats that may affect the forest’s ability
to provide clean drinking water
- step 2 results, and development and other threats

9. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Ecosystem Services and Markets
Step 1: Important watersheds for
surface drinking water
• What is the relative
importance of each subwatershed in providing surface
drinking water?
• Population served
• Distance to intake

10. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Ecosystem Services and Markets
Surface Drinking
Water Importance
Index: water
protection risk
model
PRn = P0 + ∑ (Wi * Pi)
Pi = the population
served by intakes in
the ith downstream
sub-watershed,
Wi = the proportional
weight for ith
downstream subwatershed

11. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Ecosystem Services and Markets
Surface Drinking Water Importance Index:
weighting by water supply
IMPn = (Qn) * (PRn)
mean annual
mean annual
water supply
water supply
Qn = the mean annual
water supply for subwatershed n
PRn = the risk-based
drinking water
protection for subwatershed n
IMP = surface drinking
water importance
index

12. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
areas of surface drinking
water importance (weighted by
mean annual water supply)
Ecosystem Services and Markets

13. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
areas of surface drinking
water importance (weighted by
mean annual water supply)
Ecosystem Services and Markets

14. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Ecosystem Services and Markets
Step 2: Importance of forests for
surface drinking water
• To what extent do forests protect important watersheds
for surface drinking water?
• All forests
• Private forests
• All protected forests
• NFS lands

15. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Ecosystem Services and Markets
% All forests
% Protected forests
% Private forests
% NFS forests

16. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
the extent to which all forests
are currently protecting areas of
surface drinking water importance.
Ecosystem Services and Markets

17. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
the extent to which NFS forests
are currently protecting areas of
surface drinking water importance.
Ecosystem Services and Markets

18. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
the extent to which protected forests
are currently protecting areas of
surface drinking water importance.
Ecosystem Services and Markets

19. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
the extent to which private forests
are currently protecting areas of
surface drinking water importance.
Ecosystem Services and Markets

20. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Ecosystem Services and Markets
Step 3: Threats facing forests
important for surface drinking water
• To what extent do development, fire, and insects
and disease threaten forests important for surface
drinking water?

21. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Ecosystem Services and Markets
Housing development
increase, 2000-2030
• Dave Theobald FOTE data
– 2030: SERGoM v3 model for development
– 2000: Census Bureau block dataset
• Eligible change:
– Rural 1 to Rural 2
– Rural 2 to Exurban/Urban
– Rural 1 to Exurban/Urban

22. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
% of each sub-watershed
expected to increase housing
development in forested areas
between 2000 and 2030 (Theobald)
Ecosystem Services and Markets

23. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Forests important for surface
drinking water and threatened by
development
Ecosystem Services and Markets

24. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Ecosystem Services and Markets
Wildland Fire Potential
• USFS Fire Modeling
Institute data
– Considered fuels potential
and crown fire potential.
– Based on fire severity,
weather, frequency, and size.
• Eligible threats:
– High or very high wildland
fire potential

25. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
% of sub-watershed containing
forests with high or very high
wildland fire potential
(USFS Fire Modeling Institute)
Ecosystem Services and Markets

26. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Forested areas important for
surface drinking water
and threatened by wildland fire
Ecosystem Services and Markets

27. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Ecosystem Services and Markets
Insect and Disease
• USFS Forest Health
Technology Enterprise Team
– 188 models of agent/host
interactions which result in tree
mortality
• Eligible threat:
– areas where, without remediation,
25 percent or more of the standing
live basal area of will die over the
next 15 years

28. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
% of sub-watershed classified
as having high risk of mortality
due to insects and disease
(USFS Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team)
Ecosystem Services and Markets

29. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Forested areas important for
surface drinking water
and threatened by insects and disease
Ecosystem Services and Markets

30. USDA Forest Service
Insect and Disease
Development
Wildland Fire
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Ecosystem Services and Markets

31. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Ecosystem Services and Markets
Overlay of Other threats
• Stress due to climate change (work of Ge
Sun and Steve McNulty)
• Risk from other disturbances – mining
• Linkage with water quality improvement
efforts
• Concurrence with aquatic system needs.

32. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Ecosystem Services and Markets
Key Benefits of Results
• Aid decision-making to protect, restore, or manage priority
watersheds
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
State forest resource assessments & strategies
Hazardous Fuels Priority Allocation System
Wildland Fire Decision Support System
West Wide Wildfire Risk Assessment
“Landscape Conservation/All lands” prioritization models (FHTET)
Stewardship Program Planning
Land conservation programs - legacy
• Heighten awareness of dependency on forests for clean water
• Enhance Performance Measures – provides context

33. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Ecosystem Services and Markets
Application to PES siting:
Helping to identify 3 criteria
• Consumer demand for the clean
water and a willingness to pay
• A clear connection between forest
management and drinking water
• Future threat to the existing
watershed services that can be
avoided or averted through a
payment designated for
management or protection

34. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Ecosystem Services and Markets
Putting a value on water
from forests
•
•
•
•
Assume clean water is produced for free!
Take services for granted
No consequences for loss
Undervaluing leads to overuse or lack of
protection

35. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Ecosystem Services and Markets
Less Forest Cover = Higher Treatment Costs
A 10% decline in forest cover leads
to an $8-12 increase in chemical costs
per million gallons of water treated.
E.g. 26 MGD ($10) = 228.8 (365) = $
95,000/yr
Impact of Forest Cover on Chemical Treatment
Costs
Chemical cost/MG
$250.00
$200.00
$150.00
or stated another way…
$100.00
$50.00
$0.00
0
20
40
60
80
Percent Forest in Drainage Area
100
For every 10% decline in forest
cover, there may be a 8-20% increase
in chemical treatment costs. May be
higher when other costs are added.

36. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
NYC Watershed
• Supply for 6+ million people
• Threat of regulation or
protection of forests and
agricultural lands
• $7+ billion-capital invest ; $50
million/year in conservation
vs. $300+ million/year in
operating costs.
• Enhanced services model
Ecosystem Services and Markets

37. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Denver Water
• 2.5 + million people
• Upper Platte & St.Vrain Rivers
or Colorado Front Range
• Fire and flood degraded quality
and damaged treatment and
storage facilities ($27 million)
• $25 million fund for fire
reduction, road rehab, and fire
prevention measures in
watersheds (City and FS)
Ecosystem Services and Markets

38. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Sante Fe, NM
• City of Sante Fe, Watershed
Association, TNC, USFS
• Prevent wildfire damage
• Forest thinning 17,000 acres
• 20-year 6.2 million plan with
shared costs
• $43.5 million in avoided costs in
provisioning/regulating
services
Ecosystem Services and Markets

39. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Ecosystem Services and Markets
Payments for Watershed Services
in Latin America
• Longest Running Experience
with PWS programs
• National Programs in Costa
Rica, Mexico, & Ecuador
• 5.7 Million Acres - $31M for
Watershed Conservation
• Drinking Water and
Hydropower key concerns
Costa Rica
Mexico
Equador

40. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Ecosystem Services and Markets
Ecuador - Quito Region
• Water supply for Quito and
surrounding areas - comes from two
public reserves
• Water Conservation Trust fund
• Water tariff /user fee(1 cent /m3)on
water use or dependent goods
• Land acquisition, management
practices within 1.3 million acre area.
• Landowners receive support for
improved management not payments.
Quito, Ecuador - David Berkowitz ©©
Antisana Volcano – Nicole Balloffet

41. USDA Forest Service
S&PF, Cooperative Forestry
Ecosystem Services and Markets