Open AccessEFFICIENCY IN GREAT BARRIER REEF WATER POLLUTION CONTROL: A CASE STUDY FOR THE DOUGLAS SHIRE
Author(s) -
ROEBELING PETER C.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
natural resource modeling
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.28
H-Index - 32
eISSN - 1939-7445
pISSN - 0890-8575
DOI - 10.1111/j.1939-7445.2006.tb00193.x
Subject(s) - pollution , water quality , environmental science , water pollution , shire , agricultural pollution , current (fluid) , great barrier reef , sediment control , agriculture , natural resource economics , nutrient pollution , water resource management , sediment , reef , environmental protection , fishery , economics , geography , ecology , oceanography , paleontology , archaeology , geology , biology
. . Despite the lack of adequate economic evidence, water pollution from economic activities in Great Barrier Reef (GBR) catchments is often regarded excessive. In this paper marginal benefits from terrestrial (agricultural) water pollution and associated marginal marine costs from GBR degradation are estimated and used in an optimal control approach to determine optimal levels of water quality. Results, for a case study in the Wet Tropics in Australia, show that locally optimal levels of (fine sediment) water pollution are close to current levels, indicating that increased rates of (agricultural) water pollution lead to a decrease in local economic welfare. Globally optimal levels of water pollution are, however, below current levels, indicating that (inter‐) national compensation for beneficial spillovers from reduced GBR degradation can increase global economic welfare.