Estimating the benefits of maintaining adequate lake levels to homeowners using the hedonic property method

The hedonic property method was used to estimate residents' economic benefits from maintaining high and stable lake levels at Lake Almanor, California. Nearly a thousand property transactions over a 14‐year period from 1987 to 2001 were analyzed. The linear hedonic property regression explained more than 60% of the variation in‐house prices. Property prices were negatively and significantly related to the number of linear feet of exposed lake shoreline. Each additional one foot of exposed shoreline reduces the property price by $108–$119. A view of the lake added nearly $31,000 to house prices, while lakefront properties sold for $209,000 more than non‐lake front properties.