Integrated hydro-ecological and economic modeling of environmental flows: Macquarie Marshes, Australia

Sonia Akter, R. Quentin Grafton and Wendy S. Merritt

Agricultural Water Management, 2014, vol. 145, issue C, 98-109

Abstract: This study provides a method to combine hydro-ecological response model outputs and nonmarket economic values of wetland inundation to estimate a unit price of environmental water. We show how an integrated socio-economic and hydro-ecological modelling approach may assist policy makers with water allocation decisions across competing uses. The IBIS decision support system incorporates a hydro-ecological model and is used to estimate the habitat suitability condition of wetland attributes for a given hydrology scenario. Non-use economic values of wetland attributes obtained by non-market valuation studies are then linked to the hydro-ecological model outputs to estimate marginal value of environmental flows. The contribution is to provide a robust, scientifically and economically valid method to estimate the marginal value of environmental water and to quantitatively evaluate the trade-offs involved in water allocation decisions across competing uses for water.

Keywords: Hydro-ecological-economic modelling; Environmental flows; Non-use values; Use and nonuse trade-offs; IBIS Decision Support System; Macquarie Marshes, the Murray Darling Basin; Australia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:agiwat:v:145:y:2014:i:c:p:98-109

DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2013.12.005

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