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The Allocation of Nutrient Load Reduction across a Watershed: Assessing Delivery Coefficients as an Implementation Tool
Author(s) -
Feng Hongli,
Jha Manoj,
Gassman Phil
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
applied economic perspectives and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.4
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 2040-5804
pISSN - 2040-5790
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9353.2008.01432.x
Subject(s) - watershed , reduction (mathematics) , nutrient , environmental science , computer science , water resource management , mathematics , ecology , biology , machine learning , geometry
Delivery coefficients have long been used in economic analysis of policies that seek to address environmental problems like water pollution. However, the derivation and validity of delivery coefficients have not been examined carefully by empirical analyses. We derived estimates of delivery coefficients and then evaluated them as a bridge between complex simulation models and economic policies like water quality trading. We found that the allocations achieved outcomes that differed from intended water quality targets by less than 10% in most cases. For the least‐cost allocation with heterogeneous costs, cost savings significantly outweighed deviations from water quality targets.