The Economics of Water Demands

Abstract

There is a growing awareness to the role that natural resources such as water, land, forests and environmental amenities play in our lives. There are many competing uses for natural resources, and society is challenged to manage them for improving social well being. Furthermore, there may be dire consequences to natural resources mismanagement. Renewable resources such as water, land and the environment are linked, and decisions made with regard to one may affect the others. Policy and management of natural resources now require interdisciplinary approach including natural and social sciences to correctly address our society preferences. This series provides a collection of works containing most recent findings on economics, management and policy of renewable biological resources such as water, land, crop protection, sustainable agriculture, technology, and environmental health. It incorporates modern thinking and techniques of economics and management. Books in this series will incorporate knowledge and models of natural phenomena with economics and managerial decision frameworks to assess alternative options for managing natural resources and environment. Many countries contend with the problems of exploitation and pollution of water resources. With new water projects facing prohibitively high social costs, the era of development of new water resources to augment additional demands is behind us. The Economics of Water Demands addresses the issue of demand management as a policy response that sends signals to consumers and creates new sources of water. The book provides a comprehensive set of analyses of demand management in various sectors, including residential, agriculture, industry, and environment. It covers both the technical and the policy aspects of water demand management.