10.2190/U12X-KBB2-71HV-U52J U12XKBB271HVU52J 6 Recreational Benefits from Water Quality Improvements: The Chicago Rivers Case 93 101 20020509 20020509 20020509 20020509 U12XKBB271HVU52J.pdf http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=U12XKBB271HVU52J 1 Eui-Gak Hwang Gundars Rudzitis Department of Economics, Yeungham University, Korea Department of Geography, University of Texas, Austin There has been increasing attention paid to the recreational benefits from cleaning up waterways. This paper briefly reviews the theoretical and empirical aspects of estimating benefits from water quality improvements. Two pragmatic approaches for estimating river related recreational benefits are presented and applied to rivers in the Chicago Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area. K. G. Mäller, A Method of Estimating Social Benefits from Pollution Control, <i>Swedish Journal of Economics, 73</i>, pp. 121-133, 1971. S. D. Reiling, K. C. Gibbs, and H. H. Stevener, Economic Benefits from the Improvement in Water Quality, <i>EPA</i>, 1973. M. Clawson and J. L. Knetsch, <i>Economics of Outdoor Recreation</i>, Johns Hopkins Press for Resources for the Future, Inc., Baltimore, 1966. P. F. Davidson, G. Adams, and J. Seneca, The Social Value of Water Recreational Facilities Resulting from an Improvement in Water Quality: The Delaware Estuary, A. Kneese and S. Smith (eds.), <i>Water Research</i>, Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore, 1966. Bauer Engineering, Inc., The East Branch DuPage River Basin: An Opportunity for Restoration, September 1975.