Local resolution of watershed management trade-offs: the case of Cotacachi.

Abstract

The main objective of the study presented in this chapter was to determine if communities in Cotacachi, Ecuador, are willing to help pay for improving the quality and reliability of their spring drinking water systems. Data were collected from a sample of 80 households from 10 different communities in September 2002. The results showed that respondents are willing to pay an average of US$ 1.84 per month to improve the quality and reliability of their water system, which is approximately 50% more than what they are currently paying. The study reveals the problems related to drinking water that most indigenous communities in the Andes of Ecuador face. Most of these communities have enough water, but mismanagement has led to shortages and quality problems.

Pine or Pasture? Estimated Costs and Benefits of Land Use Change in the Peruvian Andes

“…Approximately 98% of this water use is for agricultural purposes (Giró n Echeverry 2003). In similar irrigated agriculture systems in Ecuador, water was valued to be worth US$ 0.26 per cubic meter (Rodriguez 2003). For this analysis, this same value for water, adjusted for inflation, was applied to the reduction in runoff for each year, yielding a shadow price for changes in water quantity after planting a pine forest.…”

Farmers’ Willingness to Pay for Irrigation Water: A Case of Tank Irrigation Systems in South India

“…The consumers' WTP is becoming increasingly popular and is one of the standard approaches that is used by market researchers and economists to place a value on goods or services for which no market-based pricing mechanism exists [14,15]. Experiences show that very high level of WTP for water is observed in developing countries [16][17][18][19][20].…”