Estimating the Value of Drinking Water for the Households in Larestan by Using a Contingent Valuation Method

Water scarcity in Iran has reached a level that calls for the attention of all stakeholders including water consumers. While the government as water distributor has made significant efforts in managing water on the supply side, an annual average rainfall of 251 mm limits the capacity of this supply-side approach. As a result, policy efforts have increasingly turned towards demand management approaches. The subjects of this research are the determination of existence value of drinking water for the households in Larestan, and a measure of an individual’s willingness to pay (WTP) based on Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) and dichotomous choice (DC). The logit model was used for measuring the individual's WTP. Estimation parameters of the model are based on the method of maximum likelihood (ML). We used data from 320 randomly selected households in Larestan, Iran. Our findings show that once drinking tap water is connected, the households are willing to pay an average of US$0.24 (per cubic meter) in addition to their monthly charge for the water consumed.