Quiz 6 Flashcards
Which one of the following is an example of demand-side water management?
A. Desalination
B. Increasing water prices
C. Expanded development of groundwater aquifers
D. Building large dams
E.Building small dams
B. Increasing water prices
Why might supply-enhancement strategies be problematic from a water conservation perspective?
A. Water supply can be costly
B. Water subsidies are usually needed
C. Lots of wastewater may be generated
D. It is difficult to estimate water demand
E. Supply-demand cycles and reservoir effects
E. Supply-demand cycles and reservoir effects
Which price structure would tend to most effectively promote water conservation?
A. Marginal price structure
B. Constant price structure
C. Decreasing block structure
D. Uniform block structure
E. Increasing block structure
E. Increasing block structure
What is a problem associated with setting an “optimal” water price?
A. We need to know something about the effect of price changes on conservation goals
B. We don’t know the marginal benefits of water use by different water users
C. Price is usually set by competitive markets
D. Price is usually fixed and difficult to change
B. We don’t know the marginal benefits of water use by different water users
Why is cost recovery a prerequisite for equitable and universal access to basic water supply?
A. Cost recovery is needed to ensure suppliers can charge affordable prices
B. Cost recovery is needed to prevent the free water dilemma
C. Cost recovery is needed to assign water to those with the highest marginal benefits
D. Cost recovery is needed because water is a basic right
B. Cost recovery is needed to prevent the free water dilemma
Imagine you are a water manager for an irrigation district, that is suffering from dropping groundwater levels due to overdrafting by the members of the district.
What kind of good is ground water right now?
Water is a common good in this case, non-excludable but rivalrous
How would you stop the overdrafting problem and protect the good?
Your answer may go many ways, from command &control regulation to water pricing/taxation and creation of a water rights cap & trade system. Quality of the answer depends strongly on argumentation. Also discussed often is combinations of measures, e.g. reserving water for essential use by means of command and control, and trading rights to remaining water through cap & trade (cap depending on difference between supply and water demand for essential purposes).
