An interdisciplinary approach to valuing water from brush control

This paper develops an integrated model to assess the viability of increasing water yields in the Frio River basin of Texas through brush control. The presented method accounts for the effect of brush control on forage productivity and water supply by incorporating ecological, hydrologic, and economic models. The simulation of water yields suggests that brush control would increase water yields on 35% of the land area, but the costs usually would exceed the financial benefits. The authors conclude that subsidizing brush control in the Frio basin is not a cost-effective policy at this time.