Managing Drought and Water Scarcity in Vulnerable Environments: Creating a Roadmap for Change in the United States (18–20 September 2006)

Paper No. 5
Presentation Time: 11:00 AM

WHAT IS WATER WORTH WHEN IT'S REALLY SCARCE?


BRADEN, John B., Agricultural & Consumer Economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1301 W. Gregory Drive, Rm. 304, Urbana, IL 61801, jbb@uiuc.edu

Water is both essential and trivial. The fact that water varies in abundance over time and space creates confusion about its value and use. This presentation explains how economists attach value to water, how that value depends on water infrastructure and institutions, and how drought, in particular, affects conceptions of value, pricing, and the balance between domestic, commercial, and environmental uses of water.