Ronald M. North President Universities Council on Water Resources People sense intuitively that the world in which we live is not free of risk. Every decision, every action, even the refusal to either act or decide involves some element of risk. Perhaps, because we accept relatively low levels of risk in our daily activi ties, we tend to minimize the existence of risk and thereby fail to include risk assessment in those decisions and actions which could be improved through a risk assessment process. However, our casual approach to risk assessment seems to stem largely from the diffi culties inherent in measuring risk rather than from any lack of cognizance of the existence of risk. This conclusion is evidenced by the many statements in official documents relating to planning and evaluation which suggest that risk assessments should be con ducted but do not provide the mechanism for such assessments nor do they encourage their consideration in the decision making process. This conference on Risk/Benefit Analysis in Water Resources Planning and Management is notable because it attempts to identify and evaluate the mechanisms available for risk assessment which might be useful in water resources planning and management efforts. These proceedings bring together the thoughts of professional per sons who have struggled with the problems of risk assessment and who have contributed to the refinement of both theoretical and pragmatic solutions for the improvement of risk assessment processes.

A concise treatment of water-resource economics. Based upon political economy perspectives, it draws upon a range of case-studies - Third- World, developed world, and former communist countries - to cover many issues. There is guidance on

The competition for groundwater sources as a water supply reinforces the need for a strong economic rationale in decision-making. Evaluating economic decisions in the context of total water management and life-cycle water use is essential to making critical development and remediation choices. This revised volume provides fundamental economic and policy concepts related to groundwater, discusses important factors in life-cycle cost-benefit evaluation and explains triple-bottom-line analysis for different groundwater projects. It includes new and updated case studies on groundwater issues with solutions for a range of situations based on economic data. FEATURES OF THIS VOLUME Provides an understanding for the fundamental economic approaches to groundwater policy and project evaluation Incorporates life-cycle cost-benefit approaches in a triple-bottom-line framework Includes new case studies on the economics of health protection, managed aquifer recharge, local versus regional supply and strategic life-cycle analysis Addresses local and regional groundwater economic choices through a series of practical applications Explores transboundary, international, climate change and macroeconomic factors influencing groundwater project and program decisions Cost-Benefit Analysis of Groundwater Policy and Projects, with Case Studies, Second Edition, the second volume of the two-volume set Groundwater Economics, is a must-have for any professional or student who needs to understand and evaluate water resources and manage their use from a variety of sustainable approaches.

Updated edition of a comprehensive introduction to the economics of water management, with self-contained treatment of all necessary economic concepts. Economics brings powerful insights to water management, but most water professionals receive limited training in it. The second edition of this text offers a comprehensive development of water resource economics that is accessible to engineers and natural scientists as well as to economists. The goal is to build a practical platform for understanding and performing economic analysis using both theoretical and empirical tools. Familiarity with microeconomics or natural resource economics is helpful, but all the economics needed is presented and developed progressively in the text. The book focuses on the scarcity of water quantity (rather than on water quality). The author presents the economic theory of resource allocation, recognizing the peculiarities imposed by water, and then goes on to treat a range of subjects including conservation, groundwater depletion, water law, policy analysis, cost–benefit analysis, water marketing, privatization, and demand and supply estimation. Added features of this updated edition include a new chapter on water scarcity risk (with climate change and necessary risk tools introduced progressively) and new risk-attentive material elsewhere in the text; sharper treatment of block rates and pricing doctrine; expanded attention to contemporary literature and issues; and new appendixes on input–output analysis, water footprinting and virtual water, and cost allocation. Each chapter ends with a summary and exercises.

The purpose of this report is to produce a review on water resource valuation issues and techniques specifically for the appraisal and negotiation of raw (as opposed to bulk or retail) water resource allocation for agricultural development projects. The review considers raw water in naturally occurring watercourses, lakes, wetlands, soil and aquifers, taking an ecosystem function perspective at a catchment scale, and takes account of the demands from irrigated and rainfed agriculture. It is hoped that the review will have particular application to developing countries where agreed methods for reconciling competing uses are often absent, but nevertheless takes account of valuation approaches that have been made in post industrial economies.