Transferring and extrapolating estimates of cost-effectiveness for water quality outcomes: Challenges and lessons from the Great Barrier Reef.

In recent decades the declining health of the Great Barrier Reef has led to a number of government policies being implemented to reduce pollutant loads from the adjacent agricultural-based catchments. There is increasing use of cost-effectiveness measures to help prioritise between different programs and actions to reduce pollutants, given limited resources and the scale of the issues. However there are a small number of primary studies available, and the consistency of cost-effectiveness measures and their application is limited, particularly given the various uncertainties that underlie the measures. Unlike Europe and the United States of America water policy or benefit transfer approaches, there are no procedural guidance studies that must be followed in the context of the Great Barrier Reef catchments. In this study we review the use of cost effectiveness estimates for pollutant reduction into the Great Barrier Reef in the context of a benefit transfer framework, where estimates of costs from a particular case study are transferred to various scenarios within different catchments. The conclusions suggest a framework be developed for the Great Barrier Reef, which is consistent, transparent, and rigorous.

Can paddock scale data integration achieve more cost effective outcomes in the Great Barrier Reef? A case study in the Fitzroy Basin.

The decline in health of the Great Barrier Reef and the pressure on allocating funds efficiently has increased efforts to prioritise where public funds are invested. The Fitzroy basin and coastal catchments is 152,000 square kilometres and geographically diverse. Past work has identified that sediment loads leaving the catchment are posing a high risk to the ongoing health of the Reef and that there is a need to prioritise funds to achieve cost effective outcomes. In this paper we aim to present an alternative approach to effective prioritisation of sediment reductions. The approach integrates spatial information regarding the sediment source and process, levels of adoption, bare ground cover, and cost into a function to rank neighbourhood catchments. The results demonstrate the complexity of the issue and the challenge the Fitzroy Basin Association faces when allocating funds. They also illustrate that there are effective opportunities in particular priority areas within the catchment in which on-ground actions could be undertaken, proving it to be a useful approach in prioritising future investments aimed at achieving cost effective sediment reductions to the Reef.