Research Areas
Ecosystem Management, FisheriesCountries
Cambodia, Laos, VietnamTimeline
Start Date: 1 June 2010 | End Date: 31 August 2013Overview
This project is about assessing the value of water in its various uses. It sets out to estimate the costs and benefits of different uses of Water Storage Infrastructure (WSI) water at reservoir and catchment levels. It includes an assessment of water needs for major water uses (agriculture, fisheries, ecosystem, and⁄ or hydropower) and features the application of quantitative and qualitative valuation techniques to estimate costs and benefits associated with different water management strategies and scenarios.
Water valuation means expressing the value of water-related goods and services so as to inform sharing and allocation decisions. It covers both use and non-use values, extractive and in situ use values, and consumptive and non-consumptive use values. It features quantitative and qualitative approaches and considers relationships between interconnected and interdependent water uses. Project outputs will take the form of valuation estimates that reflect the distribution of costs and benefits: across uses and users (considering gender differentiation), across scales (in the reservoir and across the catchment area considering other WSI).
Valuation is seen as essential to well-informed water resource management. Valuation will support a structured mechanism of multi-stakeholder dialogues, helping stakeholders to express their values and perceptions on the use and management of water resources. Assessing and communicating these values is the basis on which stakeholders will seek well-informed decisions in multi-stakeholder platforms.
