EBA Steps

Benefits analysis involves multiple steps, many of which are common to all assessments and some that depend upon the specific project characteristics as well as types of metric and valuation techniques that are applied. Though the process is presented as linear, iteration is often employed in practice. The EBA steps outlined below are not necessarily congruent with current practice, but can be implemented within the Corps' six-step planning process.

Qualitative Phase

1. Ensure a sound qualitative understanding of the ecosystem. This may require the development of a conceptual model representing a clear understanding of the causal mechanisms contributing to degradation and possible means to achieve restoration objectives.

2. Characterize the restoration planning and design objectives, and specifically define the spatial and temporal scopes of the analysis and the metrics that will be used to assess the future ecological states and degree of success attained. This step may utilize information from a reference condition or ecosystem.

3. Identify the restoration measures and alternatives to be evaluated based upon the following factors (among others):

4. how the various actions influence the ecosystem processes or condition to yield desired improvements, and

5. what adaptive management opportunities might be pursued and how they may affect costs and outcomes.

6. Quantitative Phase

7. Compute costs (including adverse impacts) for each alternative for the planning period.

8. Forecast the parameters of interest for the future without project (FWOP) condition and each alternative. This can be a complex step, potentially involving different models and analytical tools as well as the application of professional judgment.

9. Conduct any needed sensitivity and uncertainty analyses, and consider the effects of adaptive management by assessing the benefits and costs of making project adjustments.

10. Apply any additional valuation approaches, if necessary (e.g. ecological production functions, output monetization, application of significance modifiers, etc.) to assess the outputs (i.e. benefits) for each alternative. This process may require combining several metrics and involve additional modeling. Outputs are typically based upon the annualized differences in benefit between each alternative and the FWOP condition.

11. Decision Phase - See IWR Planning Suite http://www.pmcl.com/iwrplan/ for decision support

12. Conduct cost effectiveness (CE) and incremental cost analyses (ICA) for the remaining alternatives using the outputs from Step 7, conducting analyses believed necessary to adequately understand sensitivities to uncertainty in forecasted ecological conditions.

13. Make needed comparisons among the alternatives applying appropriate decision criteria/factors (key thresholds, project constraints, etc.).

14. Select the alternative that reasonably and most cost-effectively satisfies planning objectives and prepare documentation needed to effectively communicate the process and results.

15. Confirmation Phase

16. Monitor and adaptively manage the project as required to assess success, maximize achievement of project objectives, and improve EBA for future projects through knowledge gained from monitoring and assessment.