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900K 108 PAGE x.'38 7 Dr. Tom Curtis, economist, reviewed the recreational benefits: 3.0 RECREATIONAL BENEFITS This section provides an analysis of recreational benefits for the proposed beach nourishment projects in Sectors 1, 2, 3, 5 and 7. Recreational benefits are difficult to calculate. Constructed beachfront is provided to users free of charge; thus, there is no market test or valuation of the recreational benefits derived. Estimates of recreation benefits are sensitive to the number count of tourists and resident users and the imputed value they place upon a day of beach usage. Techniques for estimating recreational benefits have improved greatly over the last 30 years. In the absence of beach nourishment, erosion would eventually destroy much of the value of the beaches in Indian River County and recreational benefits would be substantially reduced. The pre -project beaches in Indian River have already experienced significant erosion. Under these conditions the benefits attributable to the project are a substantial portion of the total benefits derived from a continuously maintained beach. For example, Sector 7 has suffered so much erosion that it is hardly used by the public. There is also a serious lack of public parking in this beach area. An improved beach is a semi-public good and recreational benefits are distributed to all users at a zero or near zero price. Since no one pays, there is no market test of the value users place on a daily visit to the beach and no direct means of deriving a demand curve. To determine the recreational benefits associated with the projects identified in the BPP, a beach survey was conducted to ascertain the characteristics of beach users on the Indian River County's beaches. The survey was conducted on various dates between August 13 and October 11, 1998. The survey interviewed 287 adults age 16 and older. In the survey, the interviewers selected one (1) adult to interview from each group of beach users. Interviews were conducted from morning until late afternoon on three (3) selected areas of beach on the beach. The Recreational Beach User Survey results and the survey questions are presented in Appendix A. Average Value of a Day on the Beach Since the beaches of Indian River County are semi-public goods, distributed to all users at zero or near zero price, it is necessary to estimate users average willingness to pay to use the beach. A key question asked the beach user, "If JANUARY 19, 1999 -52-