The recreational value of a beach in Aotearoa-New Zealand and potential water quality changes: a contingent behaviour model

The health of coastal ecosystems is important for recreational values. In this study, we survey individuals who visit a popular surf life-saving beach in the south of Aotearoa-New Zealand and apply a combined travel cost and contingent behaviour model to estimate the change in recreational value due to potential water quality changes from (1) community-led ecological restoration of a creek-estuary system that connects intermittently to the beach and (2) a proposed municipal landfill at the headwaters of the creek-estuary system. We estimate a consumer surplus of NZ$118 per person per trip when considering direct travel costs (NZ$225 when including time cost), leading to a total recreational value of NZ$3.5 m (NZ$6.6 m) per annum. Applying a pooled regression, we estimate that consumer surplus increases by NZ$27 (NZ$44) for potential water quality improvements from ecological restoration and decreases by NZ$59 (NZ$130) for water quality deterioration from hypothetical leachate events of the proposed landfill.