Benefits of Protecting Rural Water Quality: An Empirical Analysis

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英文名称：

Benefits of Protecting Rural Water Quality: An Empirical Analysis

作者：

Steve Crutchfield; Peter Feather; Daniel Hellerstein

工作单位：

USDA's Economic Research Service

来源地址：

https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=40596

关键词：

water quality;  nonpoint source pollution;  environmental quality;  agricultural production;  costs;  benefits; 

年份：

1995

出版地：

Washington, DC, USA

总页数：

32 pp

语种：

English

摘要：

Concerns about the impact of farm production on the quality of the Nation's drinking and recreational water resources have risen over the past 10 years. Because point sources of pollution were controlled first, agricultural nonpoint sources have become the Nation's largest remaining single water-quality problem. Both public and private costs of policies that address the conflict between agricultural production and water quality are relevant, but measuring the off-farm benefits and costs of changing water quality is difficult. Many of the values placed on these resources are not measured in traditional ways through market prices. This report explores the use of nonmarket valuation methods to estimate the benefits of protecting or improving rural water quality from agricultural sources of pollution. Two case studies show how these valuation methods can be used to include water-quality benefits estimates in economic analyses of specific policies to prevent or reduce water pollution.