Trade-offs between cost minimization and equity in water quality management for agricultural watersheds

1 Allocation of pollution control responsibilities is an important problem in environmental economics. Previous research has developed the least-cost formulation that addresses both cost efficiency and hydrologic uncertainty. However, the least-cost formulation does not explicitly consider the distr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Water resources research 2006-10, Vol.42 (10), p.n/a
Main Authors: Khadam, I.M, Kaluarachchi, J.J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
agricultural watersheds
cost
cost analysis
cost effectiveness
costs and returns
equity
Freshwater
land use
phosphorus
pollution control
pollution load
rivers
water management
water pollution
water quality
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Summary:1 Allocation of pollution control responsibilities is an important problem in environmental economics. Previous research has developed the least-cost formulation that addresses both cost efficiency and hydrologic uncertainty. However, the least-cost formulation does not explicitly consider the distribution of pollution control responsibilities that has a serious implication on equity. A theoretical framework for evaluating the trade-offs between cost efficiency and equity is developed in this work. In this paper the efficiency equity curve that defines the cost of achieving equity is developed. It also evaluates the impacts of hydrologic variability and parameter uncertainty on the trade-off between cost efficiency and equity, and the impacts of the choice of equity criteria on phosphorus management decisions. A demonstration example is also presented that analyzed phosphorus management in the Fishtrap Creek catchment and the lower Nooksack River basin located in northwestern Washington State.
ISSN:0043-1397
1944-7973
DOI:10.1029/2005WR004434