Water and Riparian Resources

ECONorthwest has extensive experience addressing the economic dimensions of water and riparian resources. We have evaluated water-allocation decisions in complex socio-political and ecosystem settings, including the Puget Sound and California Bay-Delta regions. We have analyzed the economic tradeoffs associated with water quality and water supply challenges in both urban and rural settings. Our clients include local, state, and federal water-management agencies, non-profit organizations, Native American tribes, utilities, and private water users. Our analyses have involved over 40 water basins, rivers, lakes, and coastal areas across the United States.

We have a wide range of practical experience analyzing water-related issues from an economic perspective:

  • The economic value of ecosystem goods and services associated with water and riparian resources, including non-market benefits
  • The benefits and costs associated with water-supply and watershed-restoration projects
  • The economic benefits of establishing numeric criteria for nutrient discharges into aquatic ecosystems
  • The feasibility and design considerations for market and incentive-based approaches to managing water resources and related ecosystem goods and services
  • The feasibility of water-quality trading programs
  • The economic consequences of climate-change impacts on water resources
  • The benefits and costs of investments in water-development projects for reclaimed water, desalination, irrigation-water efficiency, and bottled water
  • The benefits and costs of alternative stormwater management techniques, including low-impact development, sustainable stormwater management plans, and non-structural best management practices
  • The economic costs, benefits, and impacts of breaching and constructing new dams
  • Estimating private and public damages associated with water contamination

Download ECONorthwest's Water Resources Selected Project Experience for more information about our work in this area.

Related Case Studies

Valuing Ecosystem Services

Low-Impact Development

Human Dimensions of Oil Spills

Competition for Water

Representative Projects