Integrated assessment of economic benefits of groundwater improvement with contingent valuation

Abstract

This chapter investigates the potential and limits of the contingent valuation method for assessing the benefits of groundwater remediation or protection programs. The discussion is based on a review of the literature and on two original contingent valuation surveys conducted in France and in Belgium, in contexts where groundwater was expected to be particularly unfamiliar to respondents. Particular attention was paid to (i) people’s perception and understanding of the resource under study, and (ii) type and quantity of information provided by the questionnaire. In both cases, we show that the population is concerned about groundwater remediation or protection, especially to guarantee the wellbeing of future generations. Overall, we highlight that assessing willingness to pay through contingent valuation surveys is helpful for conducting an integrated valuation of groundwater protection benefits. However, we also point out two main limits which might restrict the relevance of the results obtained: (1) the respondents’ limited prior knowledge of groundwater and the risk that information provided by the questionnaire biases the elicitation process; and (2) two types of embedding effect, with the difficulty for respondents in considering the geographic extension of an aquifer and disentangling benefits derived from groundwater quality improvement from other environmental benefits.