Gerald Kauffman

Project Director, Water Resources Center, Institute for Public Administration; Assistant Professor, Biden School of Public Policy and Administration University of Delaware

  • Newark DE

Prof. Kauffman focuses on drinking water: water supply, water quality, policy, handling droughts and floods.

Contact

University of Delaware

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Biography

Gerald Kauffman is an associate professor of public policy and administration and the director of the Delaware Water Resources Center. His work focuses on drinking water: water supply, water quality, policy, handling droughts and floods. Kauffman is skilled in watershed planning and management.

Industry Expertise

Public Policy

Areas of Expertise

Public Policy
Water Policy
Water Supply
Water Quality
Watershed Planning
Management

Media Appearances

Wilmington City Council approves controversial removal of Brandywine River dam

WDEL  online

2024-02-01

"The Brandywine is more historic than any dam is. Taking out Dam 6 is just the next step in this beautiful restoration in which the city has been participating," said Gerald Kauffman, Director of the Water Resource Center at UD.

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Researchers identify reasons for Wilmington's worst flood in 200 years

The News Journal/Delaware Online  online

2024-01-23

Article quotes Gerald Kauffman, director of UD's Water Resources Center, whose team identified "the perfect storm" of factors that contributed to the overwhelming volume of floodwaters that hit Wilmington's 11th Street Bridge area in 2021.

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Ida flooding wreaked havoc 2 years ago. This preparedness event aims to prevent its repeat

USA TODAY NETWORK  print

2023-08-31

Kauffman, director of UD's Water Resources Center, spoke about Hurricane Ida's impact on the Brandywine Creek, which saw its worst flooding in 200 years.

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Articles

Benefit-cost analysis of water quality policy and criteria in the Delaware River

Water Policy

2020

This research conducts a benefit-cost analysis of water policies to reach an optimal level of dissolved oxygen (DO) to meet year-round fishable water quality criteria in the Delaware River. A watershed pollutant load model is utilized to estimate marginal cost curves of water quality improvements to meet a more protective year-round fishable standard and annual benefits are defined to achieve future DO criteria in the Delaware River. The most cost-effective DO standard is 4.5 mg/L defined by the point where the marginal benefits of willingness to pay (WTP) for improved water quality equals the marginal costs of pollution reduction. This optimal criteria (4.5 mg/L) can be achieved at a cost of $150 million with benefits ranging from $250 to $700 million/year. While a future DO standard of 4.5 mg/L reflects an economically efficient level of water quality, this DO criteria is less protective than the level of 5–6 mg/L needed to protect anadromous fish such as the Atlantic sturgeon. The policy to reach a DO level of 6 mg/L (at 80% DO saturation) may be difficult to achieve at summer water temperatures that approach 30 °C in the Delaware River at Philadelphia.

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Economic benefits of improved water quality in the Delaware River (USA)

River Research and Applications

2019

Water quality in the Delaware River, USA, has improved significantly since the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (1948), Clean Water Act of 1972, and authorization of the Delaware River Basin Commission Compact in 1961. Initial economic analysis by the Federal Water Pollution Administration in 1966 concluded the multimillion dollar pollution abatement programme would generate $350 million in annual benefits by improving dissolved oxygen levels to fishable standards in the Delaware River. Although water quality in the Delaware has improved substantially, scientists have called for raising the 1960s dissolved oxygen criteria from 3.5 mg/L to 5.0 mg/L to ensure year-round propagation of anadromous American shad and Atlantic sturgeon. This higher level would also mitigate atmospheric warming resulting in increased water temperatures and sea water incursion, both of which would lead to reductions in dissolved oxygen saturation in the river. Additional economic valuation of this water quality improvement shows direct use benefits in the Delaware River to range from $371 million to $1.1 billion per year. Other economic sectors benefiting from improved water quality include recreational boating ($46–$334 million), recreational fishing ($129–$202 million), agriculture ($8–$188 million), nonuse value ($76–$115 million), viewing/boating/fishing ($55–$68 million), bird watching ($15–$33 million), property value ($13–27 million), water supply ($12–$24 million), commercial fishing (up to $17 million), and navigation ($7–$16 million). Future economic research is needed in the Delaware River watershed to more precisely measure nonuse benefits by public willingness to pay for improved water quality.

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Economic Value of the Maryland Coastal Bays Watershed

Water Resources Center

2018

The water, natural resources, and ecosystems in the Maryland Coastal Bays watershed contribute an economic value of $1 to $3 billion annually to the regional Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia economy. This report examines that economic value in three different ways: 1. Economic value directly related to the Maryland Coastal Bays watershed water resources and habitats. The Maryland Coastal Bays watershed contributes over $1.2 billion in annual economic activity from water quality, water supply, fish/wildlife, recreation, agriculture, forests, and public parks benefits. By state, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia contribute $200 million, $700 million, and $300 million, respectively, to the Coastal Bays watershed annual economy. 2. Value of goods and services provided by the Maryland Coastal Bays watershed ecosystems. Using natural capital as a measure of value, habitats in the Maryland Coastal Bays watershed provide $3 billion annually in ecosystem goods and services in 2017 dollars, with a net present value (NPV) of $97 billion calculated over a 100-year period. By state, the ecosystem services value of the watershed is $248 million in Sussex County, Delaware; $1.9 billion in Worcester County, Maryland; and $807 million in Accomack County, Virginia. 3. Employment related to the Maryland Coastal Bays watershed resources and habitats. Using employment as a measure of value, natural resources within the Maryland Coastal Bays watershed directly and indirectly supports over 50,000 jobs with over $1.5 billion in annual wages. The purpose of these estimates is to demonstrate that the Maryland Coastal Bays watershed provides real …

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Accomplishments

Conservationist of the Year Award, Delaware Nature Society.

2009

Samuel L. Baxter Memorial Award, Water Resources Association

2004

Education

University of Delaware

PhD

College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment

2014

University of Delaware

MPA

Water Policy

2003

Rutgers University

BS

Civil and Environmental Engineering

1981

Affiliations

  • American Geophysical Union (AGU)
  • American Water Resources Association (AWRA)
  • National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR)
  • Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR)

Event Appearances

Brandywine Shad 2020

(2020) Upstream Alliance Seminar  Philadelphia, PA

Brandywine Christina State of the Watershed

(2020) Brandywine Christina Task Force  West Chester, PA

Brandywine and the Piedmont: Restoration and Revival of America’s Most Historic Small Watershed.

(2019) Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR)/National Institutes for Water Resources (NIWR) Annual Water Resources Conference  Snowbird, UT

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