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The Economic Impact of Recreational Boating and Fishing in the Delta
The IMPLAN (IMpact analysis for PLANning) system, was designed by the United States Forest Service, United States Department of Agriculture, for the purpose of estimating economic input-output models for any county, or group of counties, in the United States. It does this with a large database, and software and algorithms to estimate regional input-output models from this secondary published data. The system has comprehensive and detailed data on every area of the United States, and the ability to turn this data into dollar flows or transaction tables (e.g., Table 4). In turn, these transactions tables can be transformed into multipliers for the region so that the total regional impact of increasing or reducing economic activity in one industry (or sector) can be estimated.
Zip-code areas were used to identify the region to be covered in this economic analysis. While the area covered does not exactly match the official Delta area, the zip-codes were chosen to best designate the population that lives within the Delta area, thus representing the economically productive portion of the Delta.
Economic impacts are measured in terms of: (1) total Delta output (sales) impacts, (2) Delta income impacts, (3) Delta value-added* impacts, and (4) Delta employment impacts. An input-output multiplier is the sum of the direct, indirect, and induced effects of expenditures. The direct effect occurs when the recreators purchase goods and services (i.e., their expenditures). The indirect effect occurs when the industries that recreators purchase from must purchase inputs and supplies from services and manufacturers within the Delta. The induced effect occurs as workers in the Delta receive income from those purchases and then spend the income on consumer goods and services produced in the regions. Together, these three effects make up the total impact on the economy.
To illustrate these concepts, every dollar spent on lodging in the Delta generates a total of $1.87 of economic output (sales) in the region, which includes a direct impact of $1, and indirect and induced effects of $0.87. It also generates $0.75 in income, and $1.14 in value-added. Every million dollars spent on lodging generates 31 local jobs.
Table 7 gives the impacts of recreational expenditures (boating and fishing) on the Delta region economy. The first column of figures gives the expenditures for boating and fishing in each category estimated in Table 6. Because of the multiplier effects, the total boating expenditures of $247 million generate $445 million in total output, $183 million in income, $279 million in value added, and 8,058 jobs within the Delta region. For fishing, expenditures of $186 million generate $336 million in total output, $138 million in income, $209 in value-added, and 6,152 jobs.
These values represent 1.7 percent of total Delta income and 3.2 percent of employment in the Delta for boating recreation. Fishing recreation impacts represent 1.3 percent of total Delta income and 2.5 percent of employment.
These estimated participation rates and impacts represent a lower bound for these activities, since the surveys measured only participation by registered boat owners and licensed anglers. To the extent that boaters recreate in the Delta without registered boats (e.g., in rowboats, canoes, kayaks or rented boats), or people fish without a licensed angler in their party, the estimates will understate these recreational activities.
The above analysis suggests that recreational boating and fishing are an important part of the Delta economy. The fact that 23 percent of boaters and anglers in California recreate here every year further demonstrates that the Delta provides an important outlet for water recreation in California.
* Value-added is made up of wages and salaries, dividends, interest, and indirect business taxes.
| Activity / Expenditure Category | Expenditure in the Delta |
Impacts on the Delta Region | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Output | Income | Value Added | Employment (No. of Jobs) | ||
| Boating | |||||
| Overnight lodging, including campgrounds | $42,656,228 | $32,178,449 | $32,178,948 | $48,539,280 | 1,331 |
| Food & Drinks at cafes or snack stands | $67,946,552 | $122,791,261 | 44,357,174 | 65,917,471 | 2,510 |
| Supplies, gas, repairs, parking, gifts, etc | $92,290,943 | $163,671,219 | $71,198,206 | $109,863,984 | 2,361 |
| Recreation: equip, bought/rented, fees, etc | $44,387,464 | $78,318,411 | $35,667,934 | $54,884,873 | 1,836 |
| Total for Boating | $247,281,188 | $444,577,339 | $183,402,263 | $279,205,609 | 8,059 |
| % of Delta Total | 1.73% | 2.17% | 3.23% | ||
| Fishing | |||||
| Overnight lodging, including campgrounds | $50,377,752 | $94,241,002 | $38,003,900 | 5$7,325,739 | 1,572 |
| Food & Drinks at cafes or snack stands | $49,758,901 | $89,923,006 | $32,483,830 | $48,272,956 | 1,838 |
| Supplies, gas, repairs, parking, gifts, etc | $52,033,594 | $92,277,762 | $40,141,518 | $61,941,267 | 1,342 |
| Recreation: equip, bought/rented, fees, etc | $33,836,053 | $59,701,223 | $27,189,256 | $41,8.8,107 | 1,400 |
| Total for Boating | $186,006,300 | $336,142,994 | $137,818,504 | $S209,378,069 | 8,058 |
| % of Delta Total | 1.30% | 1.63% | 3.23% | ||