Clean water is not just an environmental issue. It is an economic one. A new fact sheet from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency makes the case clearly: protecting healthy watersheds delivers measurable, documented financial returns to communities, property owners, businesses, and governments across the country.
For the Upper Ohio River Basin – a region where watershed health directly affects drinking water, flood risk, recreation, and quality of life for millions of people across western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, and West Virginia – the findings are directly relevant to our work.
Here is what the research shows.
Healthy Watersheds Lower the Cost of Drinking Water
When forests, wetlands, and riparian buffers are intact, they act as natural filters – removing sediment, nitrogen, and contaminants before water ever reaches a treatment plant. The savings are real and well-documented.
- In Iowa, installing riparian buffers in one agricultural watershed could reduce drinking water treatment costs by approximately $71,000 per year – with total ecosystem benefits of $2.63 million annually.
- In Maine, the Portland Water District has avoided building a $150 million filtration plant for over 30 years by protecting the Sebago Lake watershed. Forest conservation investments there return between $4.80 and $8.90 in water quality benefits for every dollar spent.
- In New York City, $100 million invested annually in watershed protection has saved customers an estimated $8 to $10 billion in avoided filtration infrastructure costs, plus $365 million per year in avoided operating costs.
- Across the U.S., researchers found that a 1% increase in forestland in a source watershed can reduce drinking water treatment costs by up to $63,293 per year at a single facility.
Watershed Protection Reduces Flood Damage
Wetlands, floodplains, and forested riparian areas are natural flood infrastructure. When they are lost, communities pay the price.
- In Vermont, wetlands and floodplains along Otter Creek reduced flood damage to homes and businesses in Middlebury by 54% to 78% per flood event. During Tropical Storm Irene alone, the flood protection value was estimated at up to $1.8 million in avoided damages.
- Near St. Louis, the Meramec Greenway’s 28,000 acres of protected land provide approximately $31 million in annual benefits from avoided flood damages and enhanced nearby property values – nearly twice what the land would have been worth as residential development.
- In Tampa Bay, coastal ecosystems including mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrasses provide roughly $31 million per year in flood protection by reducing property damage from major storm events.
Clean Water Raises Property Values
The connection between water quality and real estate is well established in the research literature.
- A study of 113 lakes across 32 states found that property values increased by an average of $12,104 per home for every 1-foot improvement in water clarity.
- In Ohio, homes near Hoover Reservoir saw sales prices rise by 8% for every 1-foot increase in water clarity – a total gain of $5.7 million across the watershed.
- In Oregon, a tidal wetland restoration project near Tillamook Bay increased nearby home values by 10%, representing an average benefit of $19,000 per home.
Watersheds Support Recreation, Tourism, and Jobs
Outdoor recreation tied to healthy waterways is a major economic driver. The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reports that the outdoor recreation economy generates $119.1 billion annually, with boating and water sports alone accounting for $36.8 billion and fishing contributing $6.9 billion. The sportfishing industry supports more than 1.1 million jobs nationwide.
In Ohio, harmful algal blooms in Lake Erie cost three coastal counties an average of $142 million per year in impacts to drinking water treatment, recreation, tourism, and property values – a direct example of what watershed degradation costs.
Watersheds Improve Public Health
A 2022 study specific to Pennsylvania found that residents in 40 small towns in central and northeast PA who visited freshwater spaces identified relaxation and stress relief as the top benefit. Participants viewed nearby waterways as important for recreation (76%), as making their communities more desirable places to live (73%), and as key social gathering spaces (52%).
Across the country, clean waterways reduce healthcare costs, support physical activity, and improve mental health outcomes. These are ecosystem services that show up in measurable savings – the City of San Jose’s parks and green infrastructure, for example, generate $28.3 million in annual medical cost savings.
What This Means for the Upper Ohio River Basin
The Upper Ohio River Basin is one of the most economically and ecologically significant watershed systems in the eastern United States. It supplies drinking water to millions. It supports hunting, fishing, and recreation industries. It is home to communities still navigating the economic consequences of industrial history – from acid mine drainage to the East Palestine derailment.
The EPA’s research reinforces what H2O Water Network’s partners have known from on-the-ground experience: investing in watershed health is not a luxury. It is a cost-effective strategy for protecting community budgets, property values, public health, and economic vitality.
The full EPA fact sheet – The Economic Benefits of Protecting Healthy Watersheds (April 2026, EPA-841-F-26-001) – is available for download below.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “The Economic Benefits of Protecting Healthy Watersheds,” April 2026 (EPA-841-F-26-001). Learn more at the EPA Healthy Watersheds Program.
