The Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource has organized a special issue that focuses on the economics of water management. Published by Wiley-Blackwell, this September issue includes notable topics such as urban water use management and economics of providing environmental flows in rivers.
“Although this journal has been serving mainly agricultural economists, the current climate and global warming concerns has given water management issues fresh attention,” says Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource editor, Professor Bob Lindner.
Dr. Donna Brennan explores the efficacy and welfare costs of an outdoor water restriction policy in the paper, ‘The Welfare Costs of Urban Outdoor Water Restrictions’, showing that that it is possible to provide an economic value on the cost to consumers associated with having outdoor water restrictions.
“Lawns can be maintained at acceptable quality when sprinkler use is limited to two days per week. But when sprinklers are banned totally, households are likely to use handheld hoses”, said Dr. Brennan. By converting the cost of forgone leisure time into an equivalent dollar amount, her study demonstrates that severe water restrictions are not only an ineffective way to enforce water savings, but also results in a welfare loss associated lawn quality and reduced leisure time.
In the paper, ‘Pricing Sydney Water’, authors Professor R. Quentin Grafton and Associate Professor Tom Kompas of the Crawford School of Economics and Government at the Australian National University look at the urban water management issue. Estimating daily water demand using rainfall, temperature and price data, their study reveals that unless a fundamental change is made in water pricing and supply policies, Sydney will face an impending critical water shortage.
“Simulations indicate that Sydney’s current scheduled water prices cannot prevent water levels from reaching critical thresholds in low rainfall periods” says Dr. Grafton. “Given that new water supply infrastructure takes a long time to build, it is an immediate priority to establish flexible water pricing to balance water supply and demand.”
In addition, this special water management issue will also include the following articles:
* David Adansom, Thilak Mallawaarachchi & John Quiggin “Water use and salinity in the Murray–Darling Basin: A state-contingent model”
* M. Eiaz Qureshi, Jeff Connor, Mac Kirby & Mohammed Mainuddin “Economic assessment of acquiring water for environmental flows in the Murray Basin”
* Randall Jones, Jason Crean, Parakrama Aluwihare & Rebecca Letcher “Economic cost of environmental flows in an unregulated river system”
* Donna Brenna “Policy interventions to promote the adoption of water saving sprinkler systems: the case of lettuce on the Gnangara Mound”
E. Harris “Historical regulation of Victoria's water sector: A case of government failure?”
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This paper is published in the September 2007 issue of The Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics. Media wishing to receive a PDF or schedule media interviews with the authors should contact Alina Boey, PR & Communications Manager Asia at alina.boey@asia.blackwellpublishing.com or phone 613-83591046.
The Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics
The Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics provides a forum for innovative and scholarly work in agricultural and resource economics. First published in 1997, the Journal succeeds the Australian Journal of Agricultural Economics and the Review of Marketing and Agricultural Economics, upholding the tradition of these long-established journals.
About Wiley-Blackwell
Wiley-Blackwell was formed in February 2007 as a result of the merger between Blackwell Publishing Ltd. and Wiley’s Scientific, Technical, and Medical business. Together, the companies have created a global publishing business with deep strength in every major academic and professional field. Wiley-Blackwell publishes approximately 1,250 scholarly peer-reviewed journals and an extensive collection of books with global appeal. For more information on Wiley-Blackwell, please visit www.blackwellpublishing.com or http://interscience.wiley.com.
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