Pub Date : 2025-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.wre.2025.100272
Giovanna Ferrazzo Naspolini , Jesse Libra, Santiago Cunial , María Pérez-Urdiales
Water is not only vital for human life but also is a critical economic input. Climate change will likely exacerbate conflicts over the multiple uses of water in Latin America. This study compares direct water requirement patterns among Brazil, Colombia, and Costa Rica between 2013 and 2017, applying an environmental-extended Structural Decomposition Analysis. While all countries experienced increased water consumption during the period, Brazil's and Colombia's results suggest gains in water productivity at the national level and for Agriculture. Results also indicate that Exports are the main water consumption driver of Agriculture in Brazil and Costa Rica. The Water and sanitation sector in Colombia experienced a decrease in direct water requirements, which is illustrated by a strong negative intensity effect. In contrast, an expressive positive intensity effect in Costa Rica resulted from a sectoral GDP fall. The findings of this study offer support to sectoral climate adaptation plans in all countries as well as water conservation and sustainable development policies.
{"title":"Direct water requirement patterns in Brazil, Colombia and Costa Rica: A structural decomposition analysis","authors":"Giovanna Ferrazzo Naspolini , Jesse Libra, Santiago Cunial , María Pérez-Urdiales","doi":"10.1016/j.wre.2025.100272","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wre.2025.100272","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Water is not only vital for human life but also is a critical economic input. Climate change will likely exacerbate conflicts over the multiple uses of water in Latin America. This study compares direct water requirement patterns among Brazil, Colombia, and Costa Rica between 2013 and 2017, applying an environmental-extended Structural Decomposition Analysis. While all countries experienced increased water consumption during the period, Brazil's and Colombia's results suggest gains in water productivity at the national level and for Agriculture. Results also indicate that Exports are the main water consumption driver of Agriculture in Brazil and Costa Rica. The Water and sanitation sector in Colombia experienced a decrease in direct water requirements, which is illustrated by a strong negative intensity effect. In contrast, an expressive positive intensity effect in Costa Rica resulted from a sectoral GDP fall. The findings of this study offer support to sectoral climate adaptation plans in all countries as well as water conservation and sustainable development policies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48644,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources and Economics","volume":"52 ","pages":"Article 100272"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145424355","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.wre.2025.100271
José A. Lara-Pulido , María Zorrilla-Ramos , Ximena Posadas-Vázquez , Ximena Bailón , Gustavo Luna-Flores
This study presents the results of a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to measure the willingness to pay (WTP) for rainwater harvesting systems at the household level in Mexico City. In 2020, we conducted a field survey to estimate WTP for this type of system in the boroughs of Mexico City with medium levels of marginalization. We estimated WTP using various payment options (credit cards, wire transfer, supermarkets and government offices) and considered deferred payment plans, as well as the maintenance time required for the system. We found that credit cards were the preferred payment method, that WTP through deferred payments was low, and that results regarding maintenance time were inconclusive. In addition, differences in gender and educational attainment were found to influence WTP. The mean WTP is $614 USD for a household with a typical user profile. The results indicate that rainwater harvesting systems were not cost-effective in most cases if their cost of public water supply systems. This paper contributes to knowledge of willingness to pay for rainwater harvesting systems, as well as their economic viability in Mexico City. Although the program has the potential to reduce household dependency on the public system, these systems are currently not profitable for most households. They are not a solution to water supply shortages, yet can contribute to climate change adaptation efforts. Additionally, the time required for maintenance and its associated costs are crucial factors in the continued use of the systems.
{"title":"Willingness to pay for rainwater harvesting systems in Mexico City","authors":"José A. Lara-Pulido , María Zorrilla-Ramos , Ximena Posadas-Vázquez , Ximena Bailón , Gustavo Luna-Flores","doi":"10.1016/j.wre.2025.100271","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wre.2025.100271","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study presents the results of a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to measure the willingness to pay (WTP) for rainwater harvesting systems at the household level in Mexico City. In 2020, we conducted a field survey to estimate WTP for this type of system in the boroughs of Mexico City with medium levels of marginalization. We estimated WTP using various payment options (credit cards, wire transfer, supermarkets and government offices) and considered deferred payment plans, as well as the maintenance time required for the system. We found that credit cards were the preferred payment method, that WTP through deferred payments was low, and that results regarding maintenance time were inconclusive. In addition, differences in gender and educational attainment were found to influence WTP. The mean WTP is $614 USD for a household with a typical user profile. The results indicate that rainwater harvesting systems were not cost-effective in most cases if their cost of public water supply systems. This paper contributes to knowledge of willingness to pay for rainwater harvesting systems, as well as their economic viability in Mexico City. Although the program has the potential to reduce household dependency on the public system, these systems are currently not profitable for most households. They are not a solution to water supply shortages, yet can contribute to climate change adaptation efforts. Additionally, the time required for maintenance and its associated costs are crucial factors in the continued use of the systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48644,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources and Economics","volume":"52 ","pages":"Article 100271"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145424356","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Corrigendum to “Do political connections moderate the correlation between drought and households’ water poverty? Empirical evidence from India” [Water Resour. Econ. 52 (2025) 100273]","authors":"Rida Wanbha Nongbri , Sabuj Kumar Mandal , Gauri Sreekumar , Alec Zuo","doi":"10.1016/j.wre.2025.100274","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wre.2025.100274","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48644,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources and Economics","volume":"52 ","pages":"Article 100274"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145693149","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.wre.2025.100267
Reetwika Basu , Jacob Gifford , Michael Brady , Joseph Cook , Kirti Rajagopalan , Jonathan Yoder
An agent-based model (ABM) is developed to simulate the function of lease markets for surface water irrigation rights operating at the watershed scale. The ABM examines the effect of drought on trading activity and gains from trade under three market models: bilateral trading with random matching, a “smart market” that actively matches bidders based on bids and asks, and a full-information optimization model that represents the efficient benchmark against which to assess other market models. The model allows for variation in farm characteristics, water rights seniority, diversion location, and includes a watershed accounting system as a novel component. Results suggest gains from trade and market participation are largest with moderate drought severity than with severe or weak drought. Smart markets provide larger gains than bilateral trade, but both are lower (half or less) than the efficient benchmark. We also show that higher watershed complexity and certain distributions of agents across the watershed can significantly reduce market participation and gains from trade. The applications presented in this paper illustrate the broad applicability of the framework to water resource problems under appropriative water rights systems of the Western United States.
{"title":"An agent-based model of agricultural water market structure and function","authors":"Reetwika Basu , Jacob Gifford , Michael Brady , Joseph Cook , Kirti Rajagopalan , Jonathan Yoder","doi":"10.1016/j.wre.2025.100267","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wre.2025.100267","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>An agent-based model (ABM) is developed to simulate the function of lease markets for surface water irrigation rights operating at the watershed scale. The ABM examines the effect of drought on trading activity and gains from trade under three market models: bilateral trading with random matching, a “smart market” that actively matches bidders based on bids and asks, and a full-information optimization model that represents the efficient benchmark against which to assess other market models. The model allows for variation in farm characteristics, water rights seniority, diversion location, and includes a watershed accounting system as a novel component. Results suggest gains from trade and market participation are largest with moderate drought severity than with severe or weak drought. Smart markets provide larger gains than bilateral trade, but both are lower (half or less) than the efficient benchmark. We also show that higher watershed complexity and certain distributions of agents across the watershed can significantly reduce market participation and gains from trade. The applications presented in this paper illustrate the broad applicability of the framework to water resource problems under appropriative water rights systems of the Western United States.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48644,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources and Economics","volume":"52 ","pages":"Article 100267"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145266388","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.wre.2025.100269
A. Juutinen , Z. Virk , H. Huuki , E. Ruokamo , M. Kopsakangas-Savolainen , A. Torabi Haghighi , H. Marttila
Sustainable river regulations require more information on the costs and benefits of environmental flow constraints. This paper presents a case study focusing on the Nordic electricity market and ecosystem service situation. We impose tighter flow ramping constraints on a hydropower plant situated in the Kemijoki River and quantify the effects of the environmental flow policy on hydropower balancing services, river hydraulics and ecosystem services. Our findings reveal that as the environmental flow policy becomes more stringent, the optimal level of balancing market flexibility for the hydropower operator decreases. In addition, a hydrological flow analysis indicates that ecological improvements resulted from the policy. We compare the costs and benefits of the environmental flow policy. The findings indicate that the costs, hydropower revenue loss and increased system balancing costs are comparable to the willingness to pay for environmental improvements. If system balancing can be achieved without an increase in emissions, the willingness to pay for the improved river state increases, widening the gap between local benefits and system costs. The study insights can inform policymakers and private companies to better incorporate environmental concerns in the management of regulated rivers while acknowledging the value of hydropower in the power system.
{"title":"Impact of environmental flow policy on power system balancing costs and river ecosystem service benefits","authors":"A. Juutinen , Z. Virk , H. Huuki , E. Ruokamo , M. Kopsakangas-Savolainen , A. Torabi Haghighi , H. Marttila","doi":"10.1016/j.wre.2025.100269","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wre.2025.100269","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sustainable river regulations require more information on the costs and benefits of environmental flow constraints. This paper presents a case study focusing on the Nordic electricity market and ecosystem service situation. We impose tighter flow ramping constraints on a hydropower plant situated in the Kemijoki River and quantify the effects of the environmental flow policy on hydropower balancing services, river hydraulics and ecosystem services. Our findings reveal that as the environmental flow policy becomes more stringent, the optimal level of balancing market flexibility for the hydropower operator decreases. In addition, a hydrological flow analysis indicates that ecological improvements resulted from the policy. We compare the costs and benefits of the environmental flow policy. The findings indicate that the costs, hydropower revenue loss and increased system balancing costs are comparable to the willingness to pay for environmental improvements. If system balancing can be achieved without an increase in <span><math><mrow><msub><mrow><mi>C</mi><mi>O</mi></mrow><mn>2</mn></msub></mrow></math></span> emissions, the willingness to pay for the improved river state increases, widening the gap between local benefits and system costs. The study insights can inform policymakers and private companies to better incorporate environmental concerns in the management of regulated rivers while acknowledging the value of hydropower in the power system.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48644,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources and Economics","volume":"52 ","pages":"Article 100269"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145220533","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Water poverty is a global issue and it gets exacerbated by climate change-induced droughts. While the impact of drought on water poverty is well documented, we contribute to the literature by exploring the role played by political connection in shaping households' water poverty in the face of drought. We use two rounds of nationally representative household-level panel data from the India Human Development Survey (2004–05 and 2011–12) to generate a multidimensional water poverty index and a variable representing political connection. The long-term rainfall data from the India Meteorological Department is used to construct the drought variable. Our empirical findings show that drought is positively correlated with households’ water poverty. However, the correlation between drought and water poverty is moderated by political connectedness: politically connected households affected by drought have lower water poverty than non-politically connected households who also face drought. An analysis with disaggregated water poverty measure indicates that politically connected households have lower deprivation from access, quality, storage and capacity dimensions of water poverty compared to their non-politically counterparts. A fractional regression analysis with district level data also provides evidence of the moderating impact of political connection proving the consistency of our empirical findings. We recommend initiating specific water poverty alleviation programmes that preclude political elite capture from the distribution of water utility services. We also recommend the Panchayat systems to become more inclusive such that the benefits of water related programmes reach the most vulnerable people to ensure water security.
{"title":"Do political connections moderate the correlation between drought and households’ water poverty? Empirical evidence from India","authors":"Rida Wanbha Nongbri , Sabuj Kumar Mandal , Gauri Sreekumar , Alec Zuo","doi":"10.1016/j.wre.2025.100273","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wre.2025.100273","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Water poverty is a global issue and it gets exacerbated by climate change-induced droughts. While the impact of drought on water poverty is well documented, we contribute to the literature by exploring the role played by political connection in shaping households' water poverty in the face of drought. We use two rounds of nationally representative household-level panel data from the India Human Development Survey (2004–05 and 2011–12) to generate a multidimensional water poverty index and a variable representing political connection. The long-term rainfall data from the India Meteorological Department is used to construct the drought variable. Our empirical findings show that drought is positively correlated with households’ water poverty. However, the correlation between drought and water poverty is moderated by political connectedness: politically connected households affected by drought have lower water poverty than non-politically connected households who also face drought. An analysis with disaggregated water poverty measure indicates that politically connected households have lower deprivation from access, quality, storage and capacity dimensions of water poverty compared to their non-politically counterparts. A fractional regression analysis with district level data also provides evidence of the moderating impact of political connection proving the consistency of our empirical findings. We recommend initiating specific water poverty alleviation programmes that preclude political elite capture from the distribution of water utility services. We also recommend the Panchayat systems to become more inclusive such that the benefits of water related programmes reach the most vulnerable people to ensure water security.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48644,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources and Economics","volume":"52 ","pages":"Article 100273"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145424357","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-01DOI: 10.1016/j.wre.2025.100270
Zach Raff , Dietrich Earnhart
In the US, environmental protection agencies conduct monitoring and enforcement to induce compliance with environmental laws. If effective, regulated facilities respond by using various environmental management methods to achieve compliance. Our study is the first to examine the collective link from several environmental monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to two fundamental forms of environmental management: environmental treatment equipment and environmental personnel. To deliver our contributions, we exploit an original survey of Clean Water Act-regulated chemical manufacturing facilities that gathers facility-level data on the use of wastewater treatment equipment and environmental personnel. We use these data to jointly estimate a system of two equations – one for environmental equipment and another for environmental personnel – to examine the effects of various monitoring and enforcement mechanisms on environmental equipment and personnel. Our results support two important conclusions. First, we find that, of the mechanisms that significantly impact the use of environmental equipment or personnel, all increase the use of both environmental management practices. Our results, therefore, suggest that environmental equipment and environmental personnel serve as complements, rather than substitutes, for responding to increased enforcement. However, the effects on environmental equipment are much larger. Second, we find that, in general, the more severe mechanisms influence environmental management within one year, while the more cooperative and flexible mechanisms shape management only after a three-year delay. Thus, facilities’ responsiveness to monitoring and enforcement depends on the type of mechanism.
{"title":"Use of environmental equipment and personnel to manage wastewater: Insight from responses to regulatory enforcement","authors":"Zach Raff , Dietrich Earnhart","doi":"10.1016/j.wre.2025.100270","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wre.2025.100270","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the US, environmental protection agencies conduct monitoring and enforcement to induce compliance with environmental laws. If effective, regulated facilities respond by using various environmental management methods to achieve compliance. Our study is the first to examine the collective link from several environmental monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to two fundamental forms of environmental management: environmental treatment equipment and environmental personnel. To deliver our contributions, we exploit an original survey of Clean Water Act-regulated chemical manufacturing facilities that gathers facility-level data on the use of wastewater treatment equipment and environmental personnel. We use these data to jointly estimate a system of two equations – one for environmental equipment and another for environmental personnel – to examine the effects of various monitoring and enforcement mechanisms on environmental equipment and personnel. Our results support two important conclusions. First, we find that, of the mechanisms that significantly impact the use of environmental equipment or personnel, all increase the use of both environmental management practices. Our results, therefore, suggest that environmental equipment and environmental personnel serve as complements, rather than substitutes, for responding to increased enforcement. However, the effects on environmental equipment are much larger. Second, we find that, in general, the more severe mechanisms influence environmental management within one year, while the more cooperative and flexible mechanisms shape management only after a three-year delay. Thus, facilities’ responsiveness to monitoring and enforcement depends on the type of mechanism.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48644,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources and Economics","volume":"52 ","pages":"Article 100270"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145332250","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-19DOI: 10.1016/j.wre.2025.100268
Junkai Sun , Xin Fang , Guilin Dai , Xinyue Gao
Controlling the negative externalities of environmental pollution and reducing living costs of residents have long been main societal concerns. With the ongoing deterioration of the ecological environment, understanding the relationship between urban sewage pollution and health expenditures of residents has become increasingly critical. Drawing on extensive theoretical analysis, this study employs data from 266 Chinese cities spanning the period from 2012 to 2022 to investigate the health cost effect of urban sewage pollution. The findings reveal that urban sewage pollution not only significantly increases health expenditures of local residents but also exerts a positive spatial spillover effect on the health expenditures of surrounding residents. Education, advanced industrial structure, medical insurance, and agricultural mechanization can linearly and negatively mitigate the impact of urban sewage pollution. The local and spatial moderating effect of economic development exhibit an inverted U-shape. Furthermore, advanced industrial structure, agricultural mechanization and highly coordinated river management systems with clear accountability effectively suppress the negative externalities associated with urban sewage pollution. This study, which provides a scientific basis for accurately assessing the health costs of urban sewage pollution, is conducive to building a "green defense line" for residents' health expenditures and facilitating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of United Nations.
{"title":"The impact of water pollution on health expenditures of residents:Evidence from urban sewage in China","authors":"Junkai Sun , Xin Fang , Guilin Dai , Xinyue Gao","doi":"10.1016/j.wre.2025.100268","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wre.2025.100268","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Controlling the negative externalities of environmental pollution and reducing living costs of residents have long been main societal concerns. With the ongoing deterioration of the ecological environment, understanding the relationship between urban sewage pollution and health expenditures of residents has become increasingly critical. Drawing on extensive theoretical analysis, this study employs data from 266 Chinese cities spanning the period from 2012 to 2022 to investigate the health cost effect of urban sewage pollution. The findings reveal that urban sewage pollution not only significantly increases health expenditures of local residents but also exerts a positive spatial spillover effect on the health expenditures of surrounding residents. Education, advanced industrial structure, medical insurance, and agricultural mechanization can linearly and negatively mitigate the impact of urban sewage pollution. The local and spatial moderating effect of economic development exhibit an inverted U-shape. Furthermore, advanced industrial structure, agricultural mechanization and highly coordinated river management systems with clear accountability effectively suppress the negative externalities associated with urban sewage pollution. This study, which provides a scientific basis for accurately assessing the health costs of urban sewage pollution, is conducive to building a \"green defense line\" for residents' health expenditures and facilitating the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of United Nations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48644,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources and Economics","volume":"52 ","pages":"Article 100268"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145105775","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-17DOI: 10.1016/j.wre.2025.100266
Daniel Crespo , Mehdi Nemati , Ariel Dinar , Zachary Frankel , Nicholas Halberg
As in many basins worldwide, the imbalance between water supply and demand in the Colorado River Basin, which spans parts of the United States and Mexico, is intensifying due to factors such as climate change and population growth. This paper introduces a novel hydro-economic model encompassing 2.2 million acres of irrigated farmland, 379 cities with a combined population of 33.4 million, and nearly 90 % of the basin's hydropower capacity. The model offers a robust framework for evaluating policy interventions by estimating the value of water across regions and sectors. We find that water use in the basin generates $20.6 billion in annual benefits, $18.3 billion from urban use, $1.4 billion from agriculture, and $874 million from hydropower. Results reveal substantial variation in the marginal value of water within and across states and sectors, providing key insights for designing compensation-based policies and supporting the development of efficient water trading systems.
{"title":"Assessing the economic value of water in the Colorado River Basin: A hydroeconomic analysis","authors":"Daniel Crespo , Mehdi Nemati , Ariel Dinar , Zachary Frankel , Nicholas Halberg","doi":"10.1016/j.wre.2025.100266","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wre.2025.100266","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As in many basins worldwide, the imbalance between water supply and demand in the Colorado River Basin, which spans parts of the United States and Mexico, is intensifying due to factors such as climate change and population growth. This paper introduces a novel hydro-economic model encompassing 2.2 million acres of irrigated farmland, 379 cities with a combined population of 33.4 million, and nearly 90 % of the basin's hydropower capacity. The model offers a robust framework for evaluating policy interventions by estimating the value of water across regions and sectors. We find that water use in the basin generates $20.6 billion in annual benefits, $18.3 billion from urban use, $1.4 billion from agriculture, and $874 million from hydropower. Results reveal substantial variation in the marginal value of water within and across states and sectors, providing key insights for designing compensation-based policies and supporting the development of efficient water trading systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48644,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources and Economics","volume":"52 ","pages":"Article 100266"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145158174","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-12DOI: 10.1016/j.wre.2025.100265
Yenjae Chang , Ki-Dong Kwon , Dae-Wook Kim , Man-Keun Kim , Moon Joon Kim
To address water shortages arising from the 2015 drought in Korea, the water authority (K-water) implemented a water savings subsidy between October 2015 and January 2016. This policy incentivized reduced consumption by offering households a rebate for each unit of water saved compared to the same month in the previous year. The rate of subsidy was 1240 KRW/m3 ($1.10/m3) which was roughly 2.5–3 times larger than the water rate for the first block in most of municipalities. This study attempts to measure the effectiveness of the intervention and finds that it generated a roughly 4%–6% reduction in water use. We find that households consuming relatively more water (3rd and 4th quartiles in terms of baseline water consumption) reduced their use by 6.1% but households consuming relatively less water (1st quartile) reduced their use by 4%. Interestingly, there is little evidence that property value affects the reduction in water use with the intervention.
{"title":"Water savings subsidy during 2015 drought in Korea","authors":"Yenjae Chang , Ki-Dong Kwon , Dae-Wook Kim , Man-Keun Kim , Moon Joon Kim","doi":"10.1016/j.wre.2025.100265","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.wre.2025.100265","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To address water shortages arising from the 2015 drought in Korea, the water authority (K-water) implemented a water savings subsidy between October 2015 and January 2016. This policy incentivized reduced consumption by offering households a rebate for each unit of water saved compared to the same month in the previous year. The rate of subsidy was 1240 KRW/m<sup>3</sup> (<span><math><mo>≈</mo></math></span>$1.10/m<sup>3</sup>) which was roughly 2.5–3 times larger than the water rate for the first block in most of municipalities. This study attempts to measure the effectiveness of the intervention and finds that it generated a roughly 4%–6% reduction in water use. We find that households consuming relatively more water (3rd and 4th quartiles in terms of baseline water consumption) reduced their use by 6.1% but households consuming relatively less water (1st quartile) reduced their use by 4%. Interestingly, there is little evidence that property value affects the reduction in water use with the intervention.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48644,"journal":{"name":"Water Resources and Economics","volume":"52 ","pages":"Article 100265"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145050077","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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