Like many islands worldwide, Santa Cruz, the most populated of Ecuador's Galápagos Islands, has limited resources to provide safe drinking water to an increasing number of inhabitants and tourists. Currently, households receive brackish water at their tap, which is rationed to a few hours per day. Insufficient recovery of water supply costs is an impediment to improving water services. Against this

Health outcomes can be remarkably dependent on the quality of drinking water. This study employs primary survey data collected in May 10 – July 27, 2016 to investigate the effects of water quality, measured by the presence of the Escherichia Coli (E. Coli) bacteria, on the health outcomes of households in Nepal. The health outcomes are based on the self-reported health status as well as the actual

In the 2016–2018 drought, Cape Town almost ran out of municipal water. Tariff increases, restrictions and campaigns brought big reductions in water use during the dry spring and summer months: 14.3% in September 2017, when non-compliant households were threatened with a water usage restriction meter; 17.2% in October, when a disaster plan threatened residents with collecting water daily at 200 points

Rain gardens are an established element of water sensitive urban infrastructure. However, information on people's preferences for such systems is lacking. To understand whether people express willingness to pay for such systems and whether estimates are transferable between locations, we conducted choice experiments in Sydney and Melbourne. We found that people are willing to pay for rain gardens.

The city of Cape Town suffered a severe water crisis in 2018. At the peak of the drought in South Africa's Western Cape, a randomized control trial at 105 schools investigated the impact of two behavioral interventions to encourage responsible water usage: detailed water usage data feedback from smart meters, and an interschool competition. Interventions reduced water usage in these schools by 15–26%

Small-scale agriculture is one of the fundamental economic sectors in Chile. An increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events due to climate change suggest a higher weather risk for the future, with potential consequences for crop choices. These effects are expected to be greater in dryland areas, where producers are more vulnerable to shocks and, therefore, less able to protect themselves

In this study, we investigated whether irrigated agriculture results in improved child nutrition outcomes among farm households in southern Ghana. Using panel data collected between 2014 and 2015, this study seeks to add to the growing body of literature on the determinants of irrigated agriculture adoption, its effects on child nutrition, and the potential pathways through which irrigation can affect

We study groundwater management under a regime shock affecting water availability, using a dynamic common-property resource game. The different players correspond to different groundwater uses (irrigation or urban water supply), enabling us to consider competition between economic sectors for the stock with limited availability. The players have different water demand functions and, under certain circumstances

Reforms in irrigation management can make important contributions to reducing irrigation water scarcity. This paper attempts to examine the role of participatory irrigation management (PIM) in farmers’ mulched drip irrigation technology adoption decisions. It is based on a comparative analysis between government-promoted mulched drip irrigation technology (GMDIT) and localized self-governed mulched

Urban water demand management is key to water supply sustainability in high-density, water-stressed areas throughout the world, and emerging technologies could transform it. In particular, smart metering could allow for conserving water by dynamically changing prices to reflect water scarcity and supply cost variability. Yet, little is known on end-users’ reaction to short-term price changes, an essential

This study aims to understand the economic and bio-physical conditions under which mussel farming is a cost-effective mitigation measure to improve water quality related to excess nitrogen in fjords and coastal areas. We set-up a mixed-integer optimization model including every farm in three agricultural catchments surrounding Limfjorden, the largest fjord in Denmark. We include a number of relevant

Excess nutrients have led to eutrophication of the Chesapeake Bay, USA. It has been suggested that oyster restoration can play an important role in achieving water quality goals in the Bay. An optimal control bioeconomic model is applied to the management of oysters in the Chesapeake Bay, taking into account nutrient removal by the oysters. Optimal management of oyster harvests in the Bay reduces the

Benefit Transfer (BT) is often applied when a primary valuation study is considered too costly or time consuming to conduct. It is commonly assumed that BT performance improves with increasing similarity between study and policy sites. However, no common criteria for defining similarity exist, making it difficult to operationalise the concept of similarity in a practical BT context. We propose a structured

This research explores the relationship between episodes of contaminated drinking water and health care expenditures in the United States. The analysis relies on panel data from the 48 contiguous states from 2000 to 2011. We use the population served by public water systems that violate health-based standards of the Safe Drinking Water Act as a proxy for contaminated drinking water. We estimate spatial

We exploit sudden changes in the marginal tariff scheme to estimate the price elasticity of water demand using households' and firms' data in Tangerang Regency, a part of the Jakarta Greater Metropolitan Area, where water demand management is imperative due to the city's growing population and industrial activities. A monthly water consumption dataset at the consumer level is used in our study. Using

Allocation trade is an instrument that has been widely used to recover water for the environment during periods of scarcity (droughts). This paper proposes a water bank operating within a monopsony-monopoly setting with the dual purpose of reallocating water among farmers and acquiring water for the environment during drought periods. The proposed water bank would be managed by a public agency seeking

Agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries is predominantly rainfed, but SSA could develop greater dependence on supplemental irrigation due to a changing climate with greater rainfall uncertainty and higher frequency of dry spells. Supplemental irrigation through small-scale water harvesting (SSWH) plays a vital role in helping rainfed small-scale farmers overcome the risk of dry spells and

In this article, we estimate both the economic value of water and own-price and cross-price elasticities of water for the Chilean manufacturing industry using the production function approach. Estimating the production function allows us to estimate the marginal productivity of water which corresponds to its economic value. Our estimations are based on panel data obtained from the National Industrial

What is the economic value of storing water for future droughts, and what are the consequences of this valuation for water management? One way to answer this question is to ask: ‘what is the valuation, which if used, would maximize a region's economic use of water?’ This prescriptive valuation can be done by linking classical hydro-economic models to global search methods. Another way to answer this

The paper examines the response of twelve U.S. agricultural stock returns to El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) shocks using a recursive VAR model. Baseline results indicate that for seven of the stock returns, an ENSO shock has positive and significant effects. The effects, however, are shortlived, generally becoming statistically indistinguishable from zero three to six months after the shock. Variance

The reduction of damage due to water pollution requires good knowledge of the quality of surface waters. The Water Quality Monitoring Networks (WQMNs) have evolved over time according to the objectives of each one of them: knowledge of long-term quality evolution, search for the origin of pollution, detection of accidental pollution, etc. Information provided by WQMNs could be improved by a spatial

Where we may be aware that a problem exists, but have only an incomplete description of the drivers and/or possible management solutions, we will be unaware/uncertain about future returns from, and risks to, private and public investments in capital (i.e. social, natural, economic, cultural and political). This paper explores the unawareness/uncertainty problem by coupling Arrow's states of nature

Basin-wide planning requires tools and strategies that allow comparison of alternative pathways and priorities at relevant spatial and temporal scales. In this paper, we apply a hydroeconomic model–the Western Nepal Energy Water Model–that better accounts for feedbacks between water and energy markets, to optimize water allocations across energy, agriculture, municipal, and environmental sectors. The

We use a split-sample choice experiment to investigate the effects of alternative payment modes on the purchase of flood insurance among smallholder irrigation farmers in Ghana. Results show that insurance up-take is lower for insurance premium payments required in labour than comparable premiums required in harvest and money. The marginal willingness-to-pay for a one-year reduction in flood frequency

The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) strongly emphasizes that all water polluting sectors must enhance the protection of water bodies in a cost-effective way. River Basin Management Plans need to be made to achieve a good environmental status for all water bodies by 2027 at the latest. This article examines three principal water protection measures used in forestry: buffer zones, overland flow

An urban water network with storage and uncertain environmental water inflows is modelled. This three period model is analytically tractable, and allows for a straightforward study of the relative economic impact of different policy regimes. The model is used to identify the water authority's first best pricing policy, and its relation to long run marginal cost pricing. The model is then used to identify

A great majority of agricultural water is provided by precipitation that is stored in soil moisture, defined as green water. This water evaporates or transpires through plants, and plays a determinative role in crop growth particularly for rainfed agriculture. This study aims to assess the economic value of green water production factor that has often been ignored in the literature, as the focus was

Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of flood risk adaptation strategies offers policymakers insight into economically optimal strategies for adapting to sea level rise. However, building-level adaptation measures such as floodproofing or building elevation are often evaluated at aggregated spatial scales, which may result in sub-optimal investment decisions. In this paper, we develop a flood risk model and

Low-lying densely populated areas can be susceptible to flooding due to extreme river discharges. Insurance may be used to spread flood risk and reduce potential material damages. However, homeowners often purchase insufficient amounts of insurance against natural hazard risks like flooding, which may be due to the way they process probabilities. A common finding from (Cumulative) Prospect Theory is

Agricultural water management is becoming a critical issue in many parts of the world and cost-effective water policies are required to control water use. We examine the case study of irrigated agriculture in Beauce, France (9750 km2, Europe's largest cereal producing region). We explore the mechanisms for water abstraction control involving a combination of regulatory and economic instruments. The

Small-scale irrigation (SSI) technologies can be useful not only to increase crop productivity and income but also as a viable adaptation practice to climate variability. A farm simulation model (FARMSIM) and data from selected SSI technologies piloted in northern Ghana under the ‘Feed the Future-Innovation Lab for Small Scale Irrigation’ (ILSSI) project were used to assess the economic feasibility

Reservoirs are increasingly deemed to be important given their potential control of water availability across seasons, from wet to dry seasons, especially given the concerns on the effect of climate change. In this paper, we assess the potential scope for policy intervention on the construction of irrigation reservoirs and its design, focusing on the collective action aspect. We formulate a theoretical

Past studies have estimated residential demand for water and electricity in isolation, but these goods are often used as joint inputs in household production activities. As such, separately estimating electricity and water demand may lead to biased demand parameter estimates. If prices are positively correlated and goods are complements, ignoring cross-price effects will exaggerate own-price elasticity

We conduct a contingent valuation study to estimate the willingness to pay for a point-of-use water quality technology and water quality testing services in the highlands of Guatemala. This study is unique in two ways: we measure drinking water quality at the household level through water samples collected at the household and we elicit the willingness to pay for water quality testing services. We

Payments for ecosystem services (PES) programs are now high in number, if not always in impact. When groups of users pay groups of service providers, establishing PES involves collective action. We study the creation of collective PES institutions, and their continuation, as group coordination. We use framed lab-in-field experiments with hydroservices users and providers within watersheds participating

The consumption of water by thermal power plants for cooling purposes has presented several policy and resource allocation challenges in the recent past. There is need for improved economic understanding of thermal power plant water consumption to better address these challenges. In this paper, we examine the economic efficiency of water consumption substitutes for existing thermal power plants. In

Water is one of the most important inputs in the production process, especially for the manufacturing sector. However, at the same time, this resource can present shortage problems, mainly due to a lack of knowledge about its value. In most emerging countries, the monetary value of water used in the production process does not necessarily reflect that there is a shortage, or the costs of catchment

This study is an empirical investigation of the potential for communication and observability interventions to increase cooperation around communal water treatment systems amongst villagers in rural India. Despite the dependence of many rural communities in India on communal water sources and treatment plants for safe drinking water, they often fail to collectively manage these resources, resulting

Using data from Washington state and empirical methods to control for confounding factors, we estimate the effects of water quality impairments on residential housing prices. We also examine the role of individual water quality parameters such as fecal coliform and dissolved oxygen that are used to judge the attainment of water quality standards. Results indicate that impairments have a negative effect

We develop and apply a dynamic game model with economic, hydrologic, environmental and institutional components for interdependent states to meet water quality goals either jointly or separately. States minimize costs of phosphorus pollution abatement subject to phosphorus dynamics to reach the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) water quality goal across agricultural, urban and stormwater sectors. Comparing

To date, various simulation and optimization models have been proposed for optimum design of the reservoirs and the downstream irrigation network systems. In most of these models, the minimum reservoir capacity is defined as the objective function that can supply the defined agricultural demands based on a predetermined assumed reliability level. However, the objective functions of minimizing the reservoir

We combine soil science and economics to provide an integrated framework of Valley-Bottom Wetland (VBW) selection criteria for surface water-quality preservation at the headwater watershed scale when there is no reliable method for quantifying water-quality benefits. We focus on a French agricultural landscape and more particularly on wet meadows. We implement a method of VBW identification based on

Information systems can yield economic value by providing data and analyses that are useful for improving water operations and planning. Working from a simple typology of water management domains that acknowledges the coupling of supply and demand, we characterize the nature of peer-reviewed and practitioner research that considers or makes reference to the costs and benefits of water-related information

Dams can produce electricity and ensure water security, but at the same time they radically alter the hydrological regime of rivers with significant consequences for the economic and environmental welfare of the region in which they are located. Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is currently the most frequently used framework for the economic evaluations of dams. Changes at different time scales influence

The South African government intends to develop the Mzimvubu Water Project (MWP) which includes the construction of two dams (the Ntabelanga and Laleni dams) in the Tsitsa River, Eastern Cape province, South Africa. This investment is believed to be important to unlock the economic potential of this rural, poor and underdeveloped area. We consider a range of variables to ascertain what the realistic

Within South East Asia, certification and local market development may play an important role in incentivizing farmers to continue with nature-based solutions delivered by organic or traditional farming practices and avoid using environmentally detrimental production techniques. The purpose of this study is to use economic valuation in order to achieve an empirical understanding of local consumer preferences

This paper studies the conflict between economic and environmental sustainability objectives faced by a water agency when she allocates water quotas to farmers. This conflict consists in a water allocation problem between the amount of water claimed by farmers to irrigate their crops and the water flows needed for the conservation and the preservation of the ecosystems. This conflict in objectives

Forests worldwide provide a variety of ecosystem services including carbon sequestration, soil protection and water purification. In particular, the minimal use of pesticides and fertilizers in forest operations coupled with the tree root system are associated with higher drinking water quality. However, forest coverage is expected to have a more influential impact in groundwater quality rather than

Since the 1960s, the government of Benin has invested in the development of canal irrigation schemes in order to intensify food crop production and reduce food insecurity. This paper employed an ordered probit model with sample selection to assess the potential of irrigation in reducing food insecurity in the municipality of Malanville, Benin. The results show that 60% of the irrigation farmers and

This paper introduces a novel procedure for the compilation of highly disaggregated water accounts by using Finland as a case example. The procedure is based on combining the use of existing standard economic statistics and other registers and databases with a dataset on water supply and use collected in the present study. As an outcome, water supply and use accounts are presented for 195 industries

A decrease in net benefits from market-based forest products over the last three decades seems to be connected to the increasing abandonment of forestland in Mediterranean areas of Europe. In this paper, we estimate spatially distributed probabilities of continuing with forest management practices in mainly native pine and oak forests in Andalusia (southern Spain). The continuation of active forest

Managing natural-resource allocation and environmental externalities is a challenge. Institutional designs are central when improving water quality for downstream users, for instance, and when reallocating water quantities including for climate adaptation. Views differ on which institutions are best: states; markets; or informal institutions. For transfers of ecosystem services, we compare informal

Abiotic stresses such as droughts and floods significantly constrain rice production in India. New stress tolerant technologies have the potential to reduce yield variability and help insulate farmers from the risks posed by these hazards. Using discrete choice experiments conducted in rural Odisha, we estimate farmers' valuation for drought-tolerant (DT) and submergence-tolerant (SubT) traits embodied

Impacts of alien marine species on ecosystem services have been documented in numerous studies, but estimates of the costs, with explicit quantification of the impact channels, are lacking. We calculated the costs of the invasive worm Marenzelleria in the Baltic Sea, which affects the capacity of the seabed to store nutrients, by combining the production function and replacement cost methods. The nutrient

Decision-making units (DMUs) face considerable variations in their production possibilities as well as the characteristics of the production environments under which they operate. Consequently, DMUs are likely to experience substantial differences in productivity and efficiency levels. In contrast, the received literature assumes that DMUs share similar technological possibilities and only differ with

We study water management in the context of a prototypical water economy containing the main water sources and user sectors. A water policy consists of water allocation from each source to each user sector at each point of time as well as the capital investments needed to carry out these allocations. We show that the optimal policy brings the water capital stocks (infrastructure and equipment) to well-specified

Water issues are receiving increasing attention from policy-makers and international organizations due to water scarcity and global rising demand. Given that the demand for water is mainly driven by agriculture and energy, we use a multifactor market model to analyze the impact of agriculture and energy price trends on the price of listed companies operating in the water industry. Evidence highlights

The issue of water access and security has been emphasized in the recent policy debate on sustainable development (Sustainable Development Goal No. 6) and adaptation to climate change (CoP21 in Paris, 2015). This study provides new evidence about the Blue Virtual Water Input-Output Network. The main novelty of our approach is the combination of Structural Decomposition Analysis (SDA) with Network Theory

Many countries use a single water meter for multiple units within a building. This creates a cost externality where the cost of water consumed is spread over all units. Using administrative data from Tehran Water and Wastewater Co. for 2013 and 2014, we find an increase in the number of units on a communal meter on average increases per unit use by 0.4%. Estimation at different levels of units reveals

We examine the relationships among water pollution, income, and political institutions using country-level global water quality data over the period 1980 to 2012. In order to address concerns about the highly nonlinear relationship between pollution and income, the endogeneity of income, and the discrete nature of political variables, we use a nonparametric instrumental variable approach that allows