Integrated hydro-ecological and economic modeling of environmental flows: Macquarie Marshes, Australia

• Published in: Agricultural water management Vol. 145; pp. 98 - 109
• Main Authors: Akter, Sonia, Grafton, R. Quentin, Merritt, Wendy S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.11.2014
• Subjects: Allocations; Australia; Decisions; Economics; Environmental flows; Estimates; Hydro-ecological-economic modelling; Hydrology; IBIS Decision Support System; Macquarie Marshes, the Murray Darling Basin; Modelling; Non-use values; Policies; Use and nonuse trade-offs; Wetlands; Australia; Hydro-ecological-economic modelling; Use and nonuse trade-offs; Non-use values; Macquarie Marshes, the Murray Darling Basin; Environmental flows; IBIS Decision Support System; Australia
• ISSN: 0378-3774; 1873-2283
• DOI: 10.1016/j.agwat.2013.12.005

•We provide a framework that combines hydro-ecological and economic modelling to valuing environmental flows.•This framework can be applied in any river basin where there is sufficient data available.•We generate monetary values of water for a wetland of global significance.•We demonstrate how the estimated values can be used to evaluate trade-offs across competing water users. This study provides a method to combine hydro-ecological response model outputs and nonmarket economic values of wetland inundation to estimate a unit price of environmental water. We show how an integrated socio-economic and hydro-ecological modelling approach may assist policy makers with water allocation decisions across competing uses. The IBIS decision support system incorporates a hydro-ecological model and is used to estimate the habitat suitability condition of wetland attributes for a given hydrology scenario. Non-use economic values of wetland attributes obtained by non-market valuation studies are then linked to the hydro-ecological model outputs to estimate marginal value of environmental flows. The contribution is to provide a robust, scientifically and economically valid method to estimate the marginal value of environmental water and to quantitatively evaluate the trade-offs involved in water allocation decisions across competing uses for water.