CRS-53 



compare directly a prairie pothole to a southeastern coastal marsh. Addi- 

 tional capability is also lacking to translate the individual functions briefly 

 reviewed above into economic terms to allow value tradeoffs. For example, 

 even after three years of detailed study of relatively homogeneous coastal wet- 

 lands in Virginia, two economists concluded: 



The point of this discussion is not to suggest that the eco- 

 logical services of wetlands are nonexistent; however, there is a 

 high degree of uncertainty about these services. Therefore, as 

 indicated by the discussion of oysters, improved estimation of the 

 technical linkages between wetlands and natural services must exist 

 before sound economic values for wetlands can be estimated. 34 / 



One example of a function for which a number of value estimates have been 

 made is waste assimilation. One study has estimated that an acre of estuary- 

 marsh is capable of doing $14,000 (1971 dollars) worth of waste treatment 

 work each year with a daily loading of 19.4 pounds of biochemical oxygen demand 

 (BOD). 35 / Another study states that a wetland treatment system designed to 

 receive the pollution for a community of up to 10,000 should cost less to con- 

 struct and operate than a conventional plant. 36 / An artificial marsh pond 

 system at Brookhaven National Laboratory effectively treats 20,000 gallons 

 of sewage per day from the town of Brookhaven. 37 / 



34 / Shabman, Leonard A. and Sandra S. Batie. Estimating the Economic 

 Value of Coastal Wetlands: Conceptual Issues and Research Needs. 

 VPI-SG-79-08. Blacksburg, Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Department of 

 Agricultural Economics, 1979. p. 13. 



35 / Chapman, Freshwater Discharge, p. 635-636. 



36 / Adapted from Illinois Institute of Natural Resources, Illinois Wetlands: 

 Their Value and Management. Doc. No. 81133. Prepared by Howard E. Ball, III. 

 Chicago, October 1981. p. 45. 



37 / Horwitz, Elinor L. Our Nation's Wetlands: An Interagency Task Force 

 Report. Council on Environmental Quality. Washington, U.S. Govt. Print Off., 

 1978. p. 230. This report cites a number of examples of waste assimilation. 



