THE VALUE OF CLEAN WATER - THE PUBLICS WILLINGNESS-TO-PAY FOR BOATABLE, FISHABLE, AND SWIMMABLE QUALITY WATER

This paper presents the findings of a study designed to determine the national benefits of freshwater pollution control. By using data from a national contingent valuation survey, we estimate the aggregate bene fits of meeting the goals of the Clean Water Act. A valuation function is estimated which depicts willingness to pay as a function of water quality, income, and other variables. Several validation checks and te sts for specific biases are performed, and the benefit estimates are c orrected for missing and invalid responses. The two major policy impli cations from our work are that the benefits and costs of water polluti on control efforts are roughly equal and that many of the new policy a ctions necessary to ensure that all water bodies reach at least a swim mable quality level will not have positive net benefits.