PRESERVATION VALUE FOR GROUNDWATER QUALITY IN A LARGE AQUIFER - A CONTINGENT-VALUATION STUDY OF THE ALSATIAN AQUIFER

The Alsatian aquifer is the largest aquifer in Western Europe and supp lies groundwater for almost all households in Alsace, without any trea tment in most areas. The main objective of this paper is to compare th e willingness-to-pay of households living in polluted areas with those having access to preserved quality. Results are presented of a contin gent-valuation study of the Alsatian aquifer: On the basis of a repres entative sample of households, directly interviewed on 10 different si tes, the determinants of the preservation value of groundwater quality are estimated using two different methods of payment (referendum and open-ended method) and two versions of a questionnaire differing by th e reliability of the proposed preservation programme. It was found tha t households living in polluted areas have a greater willingness-to-pa y for a hypothetical programme of preservation compared to the other h ouseholds. Also, in contrast with previous studies on groundwater it w as found that neither the reliability of the programme nor knowledge o f the water bill significantly affected the mean willingness-to-pay, ( C) 1998 Academic Press.