Courtney Cortez, senior economist with the Balmoral Group, presented a multi‑phase economic valuation and benefit‑cost analysis of the Indian River Lagoon at the council’s Nov. 7 meeting.

Cortez and her team used InVEST ecosystem‑service models and hedonic property valuation to estimate services including coastal protection, water filtration, habitat and recreational values. Their central results: annualized ecosystem‑service values on the order of $10 billion, with recreation (fishing, boating, tourism) the largest single category (~$6.8 billion per year) and a property‑value premium associated with lagoon proximity that capitalizes to roughly $23 billion in market value and annualizes to about $1.4 billion per year.

The Balmoral team conducted site‑level benefit‑cost analyses for case studies drawn from the NOAA restoration projects. Across those projects the combined benefits exceeded costs by an estimated 24:1; two projects (Big Gum Point Marsh and a Merritt Island wetland reconnection) showed benefit:cost ratios exceeding 50:1. Excluding those outliers the mean benefit:cost ratio across the sampled projects remained approximately 10:1.

Courtney Cortez also presented regional economic‑impact modeling (IMPLAN) showing lagoon‑related activities supporting roughly 128,000 jobs and about $14 billion in value added (a measure akin to contribution to regional GDP). She noted that natural‑resource‑management investments produce higher job multipliers relative to some recreation spending categories and that NOAA projects alone would significantly increase commercial aquaculture values in some basins.

Council members asked about methods and conservatism in the commercial fishing estimates; Cortez said the team used lagoon‑specific species data and conservative assumptions and that some commercial indicators understate larger regional fisheries that also use the lagoon as nursery habitat. The reports and interactive dashboards are available through the NEP website, staff added.