Courses
Topics in Environmental Policy and Management: Water Resource Economics
This course will explore the economics of water resources. Students will gain familiarity with economic concepts such as static and dynamic efficiency, opportunity costs, and discounting as applied to water resources. We will discuss water pricing (including both municipal and irrigation), and cover techniques for measuring water demand. Although the course will primarily cover topics concerned with water quantity, we will briefly discuss some analytical approaches and tools regarding water quality and pollution control (students interested in these topics are encouraged to take PbAf 594 in the Winter quarter). Examples used in class will be drawn primarily from the Western US, with some applications from less-developed countries. We will also briefly explore how climate change is expected to alter the availability of water resources, and how economic approaches might be used to mitigate these effects.
Additional Course Information:
Course Syllabus (117 KB PDF)