Environmental valuation techniques in water resource decision making

Economic valuation of environmental uses of water resources has the potenti al to bring a more balanced perspective to the allocation and management of water resources. Environmental valuation allows water resource benefits re ceived by nontraditional water users in society to be included in benefit-c ost analyses. This allows fur a more formal consideration in the decision-m aking process that is on par with historic uses of water. Some environmenta l valuation methods follow traditional economic approaches such as estimati ng the demand curve fur recreation as a function of water flow or water qua lity. Other environmental valuation approaches utilize surveys to create si mulated markets for public uses of water resources. These valuation methods are capable of monetizing the economic values of instream Row and water-ba sed recreation as well as the value of preserving habitat for endangered sp ecies. Government-agency use of these environmental values and techniques i n their resource analyses is presented. Several case studies illustrate how environmental valuation has been used to evaluate hydropower regulation at Glen Canyon Dam, hydropower relicensing, dam removal, and public trust ben efits of water versus municipal uses.