Projects and Related Studies
River Recreation Visitor Expenditure Profile and Use Characteristics in the Middle Columbia River Corridor: Implications for Environmental Modeling
Federal and state regulators, stakeholders, and Tribal Nations have voiced concerns over the real and perceived threats that Hanford Site contaminants pose to the aquifer underlying the Hanford Site and to the Columbia River. In response to these concerns, the Department of Energy established the Groundwater/Vadose Zone Integration Project to develop and apply a cumulative effects modeling approach to understanding the subsurface environment of the Hanford Site and implications for the Columbia River. The river recreation study provides a benchmarking of human use of the river to be applied in the broader environmental assessment framework.
This project estimated river-based recreation visitor expenditures and activities associated with the summer recreation season on the middle Columbia River, including the newly established Hanford Reach National Monument. Results cover all aspects of river recreation in addition to activity-specific trip expenditure profiles. Other results include trip frequency, trip duration, activity duration, fish species sought, and analysis of activity/location substitution. Finally, some discussion of the limitations of both the time of year and the personal interview approach is provided.
Project contact: Dave Anderson