ABSTRACT
The analysis presented in this book demonstrates several key points. First, rather than valuing water per se, resource and environmental economists performing nonmarket valuations actually develop monetary measures of individuals’ preferences for consequences of policy proposals or events. Such consequences might be improved water supply or reliability for offstream water users. Others include water’s role as public goods, such as environmental or habitat preservation. Likewise, economists develop monetary measures of the gains in well-being that result from policies that reduce water degradation or those that address excessive or inadequate water supply. Using money as the measuring rod for valuing inputs and outputs enables economists to compare benefits with money costs of investments or with forgone values in alternative uses.
