DEMAND-SIDE MANAGEMENT POLICIES FOR RESIDENTIAL WATER-USE - WHO BEARSTHE CONSERVATION BURDEN

To assess the potential for urban demand side management (DSM) policie s as a water resource management tool, we analyze the extent to which price and alternative policy instruments (such as use and quantity res trictions and subsidies for water efficient technologies) reduce resid ential demand and their distributional implications by type of househo ld Using detailed household-level panel data for two California commun ities, the results suggest that the ultimate effects of DSM policies i n terms of the reduction in aggregate demand and distribution of water savings among household classes depend both on the policy instrument selected and the composition of aggregate demand.