Summer 1996: Places to Go, Things to See Around the Sound

As the warm weather approached this year, EPA released a new report on the economic benefits of clean water (see box entitled New on the Web!). The report shows what many of us have known all along: Clean water brings billions of dollars into our national economy and generates jobs and profits for local communities across the country. Some of the key findings of the report about clean water benefits nationally include:

• Beaches, rivers, and lakes are the number one vacation choice for Americans, who take over 1.8 billion trips to water destinations, resulting in a $380 billion recreation and tourism industry. The recreation and tourism industry is the second largest employer in the country after health care, providing six million jobs;
• On average, the value of real estate along desirable water areas is nearly 30% greater than the value of similar inland properties;
• The $45 billion dollar commercial fishing and shellfishing industry in the US must have clean water in order to deliver products safe for eating. More than a quarter of a million people across the country harvest fish and shellfish from our nation’s waterways, which amounts to 15 pounds of fish and shellfish consumed per person per year;
• The clean water technology industry generates sales exceeding $64 billion each year in the US and over $170 billion abroad.

To view the full Summer 1996 newsletter, download the pdf document