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Socio‐Economic Interest of Treated Wastewater Reuse in Agricultural Irrigation and Indirect Potable Water Reuse: Clermont‐Ferrand and Cannes Case Studies' Cost–Benefit Analysis
Author(s) -
Declercq Rémi,
Loubier Sébastien,
Condom Nicolas,
Molle Bruno
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
irrigation and drainage
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.421
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1531-0361
pISSN - 1531-0353
DOI - 10.1002/ird.2205
Subject(s) - reuse , groundwater recharge , profitability index , wastewater , irrigation , environmental economics , water resource management , production (economics) , computer science , environmental planning , environmental science , business , environmental engineering , engineering , groundwater , waste management , economics , aquifer , biology , ecology , geotechnical engineering , macroeconomics , finance
Unlike many structuring projects, treated wastewater reuse projects are rarely subjected to economic analysis. And when they are, the social and environmental benefits and costs are often not accounted for or are not properly quantified. Here we show that the widely used cost–benefit analysis method showing the profitability of a project from the whole of the community's point of view can be adapted to treated wastewater reuse projects. The remaining evaluation difficulties are more due to the system's complexity rather than its methodological limits. Indeed, the operator must be able to understand, formalize and imagine constraints and risks associated with different domains such as urbanism, agriculture, climate, hydrology and trade. Remaining uncertainties over key parameter values can, however, be properly considered through scenarios and/or stochastic approaches. We illustrate the implementation of this methodological approach with two case studies: Clermont‐Ferrand where treated wastewater is reused by a collective irrigation network; and Cannes where surface and groundwater recharge can enable indirect reuse for multiple purposes including indirect potable water production. These two French case studies highlight how economic analysis, dealing with uncertainties, can support decision making. Copyright © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.