Economic contribution and impact analysis of the 2019 flood's disruption of the Oklahoma-McClellan-Kerr Navigation System
Abstract
Record flooding in spring 2019 caused Oklahoma’s inland navigable waterways to close. Closure disrupted the supply chains of agricultural and manufacturing industries for months, causing economic loss in other industries of the state’s economy. Anecdotal accounts estimated direct losses of 2 million dollars per day. This research uses a multi-regional input-output model to estimate the short term direct, indirect and induced economic impacts of the Oklahoma portion of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System’s disruption from the spring 2019 flood. First the contribution of the water transportation industry to Oklahoma, Arkansas, Colorado, and Kansas’ economies is estimated, and the losses in economic output, employment, and value added caused by various length of flood disruption periods. We also estimate the effects the disruption had on the economies of Oklahoma’s metropolitan and non-metropolitan regions. This study finds losses in employment, output, and value added for each of the congressional districts in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Colorado, and Kansas. Indirect and induced losses were disproportionately experienced in Oklahoma metropolitan and non-metropolitan agricultural and manufacturing industries. Benefits the public received were diminished due to disruption of the waterway as a result of the spring flooding.
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- OSU Theses [15752]