This seminar is a survey of selected issues in the economics of water resource management, with a strong focus on drinking water and sanitation. The course is divided into two parts – the first focusing on water quality, and the second on water scarcity and allocation of scarce resources. Water quality and water scarcity are, of course, related. Thus, we will occasionally stray from one “theme” to the other as we move through the course material.
In the portion of the course that focuses on water quality, we will discuss issues related to the efficiency of U.S. federal water quality regulations, including the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act; market-based approaches to water quality regulation; transboundary water management; and sanitation. In discussing water scarcity, we will cover water allocation and marketing; large-scale water projects; urban water demand and pricing in the context of industrialized as well as developing countries; and water conservation.