Determining the Economic Value of Water: Concepts and Methods

Water provides benefits as a commodity for agriculture, industry, and households--and as a public good for scenic values, waste assimilation, wildlife habitats, and recreational use. However, even as the nature and needs of economies change, water continues to be allocated to other than high priority uses, water quality continues to decline, environmental uses get inadequate attention, and floods and droughts take an unnecessarily severe toll. One reason for this is that price signals that reflect scarcities of goods and thereby guide investments and resource allocation in the private sector are usually distorted or absent in decision-making relating to water. To aid in cost-benefit analysis under conditions where appropriate price incentives are absent, economists have developed a range of alternative or 'non-market' methods for measuring economic benefits. Robert Young aims to provide the most comprehensive exposition to-date of the application of nonmarket economic valuation methods to proposed water resources investments and policies. He provides a conceptual framework for valuation of both commodity and public good uses of water, addressing valuation techniques appropriate to measuring public benefits--including water quality improvement, recreation and wildlife habitat enhancement, and flood risk reduction. However, in contrast to the existing environmental valuation literature, the emphasis here is on the commodity uses of water by agriculture, industries, and households. The book describes the various measurement methods, illustrates how they are applied in practice, and discusses their strengths, limitations, and appropriate roles.

Table of Contents:
Part 1: Economic Value of Water: Theory and Concepts. 1. Water, Economics, and the Nature of Water Policy Issues. 2. Conceptual Framework and Special Problems in Valuing Water. 3. Methods for Valuing Producers' Uses of Water. 4. Applied Methods of Valuation of Water as Environmental Public Goods. Part 2: Applications of Valuation Methods. 5. Valuation of Water Used in Irrigated Crop Production. 6. Valuing Water Used by Industry. 7. Valuing Water in Municipal Uses. 8. Valuation of Selected Water-Related Public Goods. 9. Conclusions. References. Glossary. Index.

About the Author :
Robert A. Young is emeritus professor in agricultural and resource economics at Colorado State University.

Review :
'This thorough and well referenced book is likely to become an important resource for every economist working in the area of water resource valuation and policy analysis. With both technical details and clear exposition, it would also be an excellent guide for graduate and advanced undergraduate courses.' Journal of Agribusiness '[A] superb work... Highly recommended.' Choice