Willingness to Pay for Multiple Function of Regional Water

A Contingent Valuation Study on Regional Water in Kohoku Irrigation Project in Shiga Prefecture

Abstract

A contingent valuation method (CVM) was applied to data from an original survey of 2, 584 in Kohoku region in Shiga prefecture to quantify residents' appreciation of multiple function of regional water. The survey was used a double-bounded dichotomous choice to elicit residents' willingness to pay (WTP) and WTP were derived from a probit model. The results indicate that residents in Kohoku area are willing to pay as much as those in Nagahama city. The median annual values per household are 2, 350 yen and 2, 073 yen respectively, and the mean annual values per household are 4, 571 yen and 4, 302 yen. These estimates are seem to be correlated closely with responses about maintenance of irrigation canals. Sex, age, and whether he or she is a member of a farm household or not are shown to have no influence on the WTP estimates. Comparisons with similar studies suggest that residents of each region appreciate the regional water equally.