Conceptual Problems in Water-Quality Economics

A general analysis of the conceptual problems associated with economic analysis applied in water quality control planning is presented. Various specific applications of economics in the San Francisco Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Program are set forth. Needed advances in methodology are defined. A multidisciplinary approach to regional planning for water quality management, as in the Bay-Delta Program, requires definition of the role of economic analysis in relation to other functions such as the study of institutional control mechanisms. Complete economic analysis of alternative control schemes cannot procede unless relationships between water use and water quality are defined.