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Abstract
Up to 60% of potable water supplied to Perth in Western Australia is extracted from
the Gnangara mound. Many of the urban wetlands above the Mound are groundwater-dependent.
Excessive groundwater extraction and climate change have resulted in a
decline in water levels in the wetlands. This study estimates the value of urban
wetlands in three local government districts in the Perth metropolitan region using the
hedonic property price approach. Preliminary results found that proximity to wetlands
influences the sales prices of properties. The marginal implicit price of reducing the
distance to the nearest wetland by 1 metre, evaluated at the mean sales value, is
AU$463. If there is more than one wetland within 1.5 kilometres of a property, the
second wetland will help increase the property price by AU$6,081. For a 50 ha
wetland, we estimate the total premium of on sales due to wetland proximity is
AU$220 million, based on average property characteristics and medium house
density. These results will help inform policy makers and land developers on the
value of conserving existing urban wetlands, creating new wetland areas and
urbanising rural wetlands.