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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Invasive Species and Pollinator Health » Research » Research Project #427246

Research Project: Socio-Economic Assessment of Areawide Pest Management of Aquatic Weeds in the Sacramento/ San Joaquin River Delta

Location: Invasive Species and Pollinator Health

Project Number: 2030-22000-029-007-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Sep 15, 2014
End Date: Sep 14, 2019

Objective:
To compare project results from a new inter-agency effort focused on the integrated management of invasive aquatic weeds with anticipated biological and socioeconomic benefits and milestones of success.

Approach:
The Cooperator will complete development and implementation of a cost analysis model to predict the minimum water hyacinth patch size/acreage needed to optimize the efficacy of control while minimizing control expenses/retreatments in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The Cooperator will complete a fifth year of surveys of state and Federal agencies and private interests to assess costs of aquatic weed control in marinas and waterways, to track benefits of the USDA-ARS Delta Region Areawide Aquatic Weed Project (DRAAWP). Assessments will include costs of physical or chemical treatment, costs to maintain and repair water pumps and other water conveyance infrastructure, mosquito abatement costs, costs of lost business, e.g recreational navigation or lost water conveyance. In addition, the Cooperator will complete development of a ‘bioeconomic’ model of water hyacinth control that relates control cost to aquatic weed growth, as determined by modeling of water nutrient content and plant growth by NASA, UC-Davis, and ARS collaborators on this project.