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Abstract
Following the implementation of the Water Framework Directive (WFD),
integrated catchment management plans must be prepared for all river basins in order
to achieve ‘Good Ecological Status’ (GES) in all EU waters. This concept is a broader
measure of water quality than the chemical and biological measures which were
previously dominant in EU water policy. The directive also calls for a consideration
of the economic costs and benefits of improvements to the water bodies’ ecological
status in catchment management plans, along with the introduction of full social cost
pricing for water use. In this paper, the Choice Experiment (CE) method of valuation
is used to estimate the value of improvements in a number of components of
ecological status in the Boyne river catchment in Ireland. The study determines what
value the targeted population of the catchment place on the non-market economic
benefits of moves towards GES. In addition, the effect of various factors of observed
individual heterogeneity on choice is explored.