Water Resources and Economics最新文献

Because the main modes of transmission of the COVID-19 virus are respiration and contact, WHO recommends frequent washing of hands with soap under running water for at least 20 s. This article investigates how the level of concern about COVID-19 affects the likelihood of washing hands frequently in sub-Saharan Africa. We discuss the implication of the findings for water-scarce environment. The study makes use of a unique survey dataset from 12 sub-Saharan African countries collected in April 2020 (first round) and May 2020 (second round) and employs an extended ordered probit model with endogenous covariate. The results show that the level of concern about the spread of the virus increases the likelihood of washing hands with soap under running water for a minimum of 20 s at least five times a day. The increase in the probability of handwashing due to concern about COVID-19, ranges from 3% for Benin to 6.3% for South Africa. The results also show heterogeneous effects across gender- and age-groups, locality and various water sources. However, in Africa, the sustainability of the handwashing protocol could be threatened by the severe water scarcity that exists in the region. To sustain frequent handwashing, sub-Saharan Africa needs an effective strategy for water management and supply.

Large water demands by the mining industry are of increasing concern around the world. The cost of a specific water management regulation is studied for an oil sands mining operation in Canada, where restrictions on water withdrawals vary with fluctuations in the river. A stochastic optimal control problem is formulated for a firm choosing production, water use, and the timing to build a water storage facility, under conditions of uncertain oil prices and uncertain water withdrawal limits. As no closed form solution is available, a stochastic dynamic programming approach is implemented to determine the difference in value and optimal controls for the oil-producing asset, with and without water restrictions. The cost of the restrictions is estimated to be quite small given historical river flow conditions, while cost is shown to increase under drier conditions. A long run marginal cost curve is developed showing the cost of increasing restrictions given expectations about future river conditions and oil prices.

The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) relationship between water quality and income within the European Union, considering spatial interdependences across countries. To this end, we apply a spatial econometrics framework using panel data, at the national level, for twenty EU countries across seventeen years, 1998 to 2014. Furthermore, we account for the role of human and livestock population size, institutional quality and economic openness for water quality. Results show that a significant EKC relationship is seen with an inverted N-shaped relationship between income and water quality. Water quality is decreasing in income for low income levels, increasing in income when GDP per capita for medium income levels, and deteriorating for high income levels. Eight out of twenty countries have income levels associated with a declining water quality. Spatial spillovers between countries are significant. Higher livestock density levels are associated with lower levels of water quality, while institutional quality and openness to trade are positively associated with water quality.

We formalise a dynamic water pricing model as a tool for increasing social surplus in short-term water allocations and long-term water supply planning and investments. We calculate, in monetary terms, the intertemporal risk that current water uses impose on future water availability, termed as the Risk-Adjusted User Cost (RAUC), given multi-period droughts. Our model is calibrated to the water supply system in the Australian Capital Territory. Results show that the RAUC may be a substantial proportion of the cost of supplying water, and incorporating it in the water price can result in long-term welfare gains.

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%. There was no significant difference between the information feedback and the combination of information feedback and competition. This example from Cape Town demonstrates the effectiveness of combining smart technologies with nudges. It provides a model of water conservation interventions for sustainable cities.

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 across the City; and 20.1–24.3%, when “Day Zero” appeared unavoidable, water pressure was reduced, usage was restricted to 50 L per person per day and exponential tariff hikes were introduced. Transparent information about the severity of the crisis and shifting the responsibility for crisis avoidance to residents amplified water savings at the height of the drought.

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 health condition of the members of the household. The novel contribution of this paper is that we investigate the health impacts of water quality by considering water quality itself as an intermediary process that could be affected by factors like household's cleanliness behaviors and hygienic infrastructures. Using a control function approach to account for potential endogeneity issues, the results indicate a significant effect of E. coli on the health status of individuals. Findings indicate the difference in expected diarrheal incidence to be about 0.913 units higher when E. coli is present in households' drinking water. The impact of E. coli is evident in both the self-reported health status and the actual health outcome, and the results hold across various empirical models and specifications. From a policy perspective, our results indicate the pressing need for policymakers to implement water quality tracking programs, and also to raise awareness among households regarding adequate cleanliness practices and hygiene infrastructures.

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 marginal willingness to pay for different features is similar in both locations, but the transfer of compensating surplus values between locations still generates transfer errors. The implications of transfer errors are investigated using a benefit-cost analysis of a rain garden installation.

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 against these risks. Using data from the 7th Chilean National Agriculture and Forestry Census, we explore small-scale farmers' cropland decisions as an adaptation strategy to cope with droughts. We use remote sensing data to identify drought events and model the impact of droughts on farmers’ decisions using a multivariate fractional model. This model assumes that farmers allocate shares of land over a crop portfolio. Our findings show that farmers in dryland areas reduce high-risk cropping activities after recent drought shocks, choosing crops with shorter growing periods and lower capital and technological costs, such as cereals. However, we found a different cropland pattern in areas with a higher frequency of droughts. In these locations, farmers prefer legumes and tubers, vineyards, fruits and vegetables. Finally, maize and vineyards are more likely to be grown in places with higher temperatures. Results suggest potential crop adaptation strategies in the face of more arid environments in the future.

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 backdrop, we implemented a contingent valuation survey to investigate whether households are willing to pay for improved water services. Using split-sample scenarios that allow for scope and part-whole tests, we elicited household preferences for three improvements: 1) uninterrupted water supply, 2) drinkable tap water, and 3) combining both. Our estimation results indicate that households are willing to pay for safe drinking water. Conversely, our willingness-to-pay estimates suggest that households are indifferent about improvements of service reliability unless water quality is improved as well. The median willingness to pay for concurrent improvements of system reliability and water quality is estimated at approximately $36/month, about 2.1% of average monthly household income. This study has policy implications as it demonstrates that households deem system reliability and water quality as complementary improvements.