The value of hydrometric information in water resources management and flood control

Abstract

Hydrometric information is fundamental to the planning, operation and management of water resources and flood defence. The data network is greatly valued by those who use it, yet assignment of a monetary or economic value is problematic. Data managers are often frustrated by the need to continue to justify a network. The paper focuses on the uses of data within the Environment Agency of the UK, explores the difficulties in assigning a value to the data and attempts to review the value ascribed to such data by drawing on some UK and wider examples.