1.0 Introduction
The Ministry of Economic Development, through the Government's "Water Programme of Action" (MfE, November 2003) commissioned (Appendix 1) the Institute of Geological & Nuclear Sciences and Basil Sharp to list water bodies that are important for domestic and industrial uses in New Zealand as a contribution to the identification of water bodies of national importance.
This project ranks estimated economic value of water in surface water catchments and groundwater aquifers in four use categories: domestic supply, stock watering, field irrigation and industry. The economic value of water is estimated using:
V = AL*U*E
V - economic value of water in $/yr
AL - allocation in m³/year
U - use as a ratio of allocation
E - unit economic value of water in $/m³
Each of these components is discussed in turn. Water allocation information held by regional councils is reviewed in Section 2.0 and water use information is summarised in Section 3.0. Studies of the economic value of water in New Zealand are discussed in Section 4.0 and applied for this report in Section 5.0. Estimates of economic value of surface water catchments and groundwater aquifers are made in Section 6.0 and Section 7.0, respectively.
This report also discusses some future trends in water use by domestic users to identify the surface water catchments and groundwater aquifers that will be important in the future. Domestic water use in 2021 of surface water catchments and groundwater aquifers is estimated in Section 8.0 using predictions of population change.
Recommendations for further work are presented in Section 9.0.
Economic values estimated in this report are only a part of the total economic value of water. For example, economic values associated with irrigation and in-situ use are not considered in this report. Water bodies of national importance (MfE, November 2003) are to be assessed in the wider project, against values for: tourism, irrigation, energy generation, domestic use, industrial use, recreation, natural heritage and cultural heritage.
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