Equitably slicing the pie: Water policy and allocation

Adam Daigneault (), Suzie Greenhalgh and Oshadhi Samarasinghe

Ecological Economics, 2017, vol. 131, issue C, 449-459

Abstract: Non-point source pollution is deteriorating water quality throughout the world. New Zealand is addressing this issue by regulating land-based nutrient losses, with debates over how to allocate limits across a heterogeneous landscape. We develop a spatially explicit economic land use model to investigate efficiency and equity issues from seven approaches to allocate nutrient discharges across two New Zealand watersheds. We find that the preferred allocation differs across land use, land characteristics, and regulation stringency; and that there is no universal ‘best’ allocation option. Therefore, decision-makers should focus on, at least, efficiency and equity, and on how to compensate those most affected.

Keywords: Nutrient loss; Non-point source pollution; Environmental policy; Equity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q52 Q53 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:131:y:2017:i:c:p:449-459

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.09.020

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