摘要：Tourism related to bathing has a growing economic importance in the Guadiana Estuary in southern Spain andPortugal. Polls of local public opinion showed an awareness of potential and current threats to the aquatic environment posedby regulation of river flow and untreated/poorly-treated urban sewage discharge. Because of this strong concern for water quality,it was selected as the policy issue for our application of the Systems Approach Framework (SAF). We developed an integratedsimulation model of the Guadiana estuarine system in which the ecological system and socioeconomic components are linkedby means of beach eco-label (Blue Flag Award) through its dependence on fecal bacterial thresholds. We quantified thesocioeconomic impacts of water quality through an Economic Base Model that is used to portray the effect of increasingemployment on resident population as a result of change in coastal water quality. A Cost-Benefit Analysis provides monetaryindicators for scenario evaluation. It includes a monetary valuation of changes in water quality on human welfare using aContingent Valuation Method. Because the population has a strong seasonal influence on the wastewater discharge into theestuary, we were able to simulate the feedback loop between the human activities that control water quality and those that benefitfrom it. We organized a critical evaluation of our efforts with the stakeholders, which allowed us to better understand theirperceptions of the strengths, limitations, and opportunities for future SAF applications. Here we describe several aspects of ourefforts that demonstrate the potential value of the SAF to environmental managers and stakeholders in clarifying some of thecausal mechanisms, management options, and costs for resolution of the conflictual problem between water quality and tourismin the Guadiana estuary
关键词：blue flag award; cost-benefit analysis; economic base model; Guadiana estuary; systems approach; tourism; water;quality
