The contingent valuation method for the economic assessment of groundwater: a Lebanese case study
New Medit, vol 7, n. 3, (September 2008), pp. 19-24
Language: EN
Jel classification: Q250, C420
Lebanon is directly concerned with the economic evaluation of water resources given their importance in a region where such resources are scarce. Moreover, on the Lebanese coast, this resource is strongly interested by seawater intrusion and quality deterioration. The study is carried out in Byblos district (Jbeil Caza), 35 km north of Beirut. In the absence of any modern irrigation systems for water distribution in the region, our objective is to estimate the economic value of that water for agricultural use. In the economic evaluation, we adopted the contingent valuation method to estimate the farmers’ willingness to pay in order to contribute to the improvement of the groundwater quality. To know the WTP, two alternative scenarios were proposed and compared with the current situation. Farmers would pay 102 US$ yr-1 for the first proposal and 166.67 US$ yr-1for the second.
seawater intrusion, economic evaluation, contingent valuation method, Lebanon
