Handbook For The Economic Analysis Of Water Supply Projects

A simplified method aimed at improving the quality of economic analysis on water supply projects.

The Handbook of Water Economics is presented in three sections: theory, methods and applications, providing the latest information in the growing area of water economics and the environment, covering the theory and issues relating to resource management techniques, policy formulation, implementation and evaluation in the water sector. * Includes strong theory section which links to real world examples in the applications section * Provides an associated website which will include: formats for EXCEL spreadsheet application covered in the text; bibliography and links to related sites * Methods section includes coverage of methods of economic evaluation, use of economic instruments and cost-benefit analysis * Applications section includes case studies on: water availability; sewerage and waste water treatment; navigation; hydro-electric and multipurpose reservoirs; flooding; hydrometric data and coastal zone management Essential reading for those studying environmental economics modules in Departments of Environmental Management, Geography and Engineering, researchers in hydrology as well as professionals and policy makers in water companies, water authorities, NGO's and government agencies.

Growing scarcity of freshwater worldwide brings to light the need for sound water resource modeling and policy analysis. While a solid foundation has been established for many specific water management problems, combining those methods and principles in a unified framework remains an ongoing challenge. This Handbook aims to expand the scope of efficient water use to include allocation of sources and quantities across uses and time, as well as integrating demand-management with supply-side substitutes. Socially efficient water use does not generally coincide with private decisions in the real world, however. Examples of mechanisms designed to incentivize efficient behavior are drawn from agricultural water use, municipal water regulation, and externalities linked to water resources. Water management is further complicated when information is costly and/or imperfect. Standard optimization frameworks are extended to allow for coordination costs, games and cooperation, and risk allocation. When operating efficiently, water markets are often viewed as a desirable means of allocation because a market price incentivizes users to move resources from low to high value activities. However, early attempts at water trading have run into many obstacles. Case studies from the United States, Australia, Europe, and Canada highlight the successes and remaining challenges of establishing efficient water markets.

Project economic analysis is a tool used by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to ensure that ADB operations comply with its Charter. The guidelines in this publication are a revised version of the 1997 edition. The revision responds to the changing development context and ADB operational priorities, and aims to address the recommendations of the ADB Quality-at-Entry Assessments for more methodological work on project economic analysis. The revised guidelines provide general principles for the conduct of project economic analysis, and should be read together with handbooks, technical reports, and other reference materials published by ADB dealing with sector-specific project economic analysis in detail.