The role of ecosystem valuation in environmental decision making: Hydropower relicensing and dam removal on the Elwha River

A primary, but rarely examined, justification for ecosystem valuation studies is that monetization of environmental amenities and services makes a needed contribution to environmental decision making. This paper systematically examines the role and contribution of economic analysis, and specifically ecosystem valuation, in a precedent-setting dam removal case. The removal of operating hydropower dams for the purpose of ecosystem restoration (as opposed for safety reasons) is rapidly gaining national attention. One of the first examples involved two dams on the Elwha River in the state of Washington. In this paper we describe the technical analysis that was employed and how such analysis contributed to that dam removal decision. Ecosystem valuation played a minor role in the decision to remove the Elwha dams and participants in hydropower relicensing decisions in general do not rely on valuation studies to decide levels of ecosystem enhancements.