Dams, dam removal, and river restoration: A hedonic property value analysis

This article presents the results of a hedonic property value analysis for multiple hydropower sites along the Kennebec River in Maine, including the former site of the Edwards Dam in Augusta, Maine. The effect of the removal of the Edwards Dam on the Kennebec River in Maine is examined through consumer's marginal willingness to pay to be close to or distant from the dam site. Data from both before and after the dam was removed are used to estimate changes in marginal prices. A similar data set is also used to look at the effects of the remaining upstream dams on property values. This article presents one of the first (to our knowledge) ex post analyses on the economic impact of dam removal on property values. As more privately owned dams in the United States come up for relicensing, evaluating the impacts with and without the dam will become increasingly important. This work can help inform those analyses.