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Policy Instruments for Groundwater Management in the Netherlands

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Abstract

In the Netherlands agriculture andnature have conflicting interests with respectto groundwater management. Insight into thesuitability of policy instruments to achieveoptimal groundwater level and extractionmanagement in the Netherlands is, however,missing. In this paper the suitability ofpolicy instruments for groundwater managementis studied. Changes in the institutionalenvironment and voluntary agreements seem to bemore suitable for groundwater level managementthan economic instruments. The currenthistorical groundwater extraction rightssystems together with the low groundwaterprices encourage low-value agriculturalgroundwater usage, whereas sprinkling bans andirrigation scheduling currently aim to reducelow-value use of groundwater. These extractioninstruments are less efficient than a systemthat considers externalities in the price ofwater or diverts water away from agriculturewhile encouraging trading.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Agricultural Economics Research Institute (LEI), P.O. Box 29703, 2502 LS, The Hague, The Netherlands

    Petra Hellegers

  2. Environmental Economics and Natural Resources Group, Wageningen University (WU), P.O. Box 8130, 6700 EW, Wageningen, The Netherlands

    Ekko van Ierland

Authors
  1. Petra Hellegers
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  2. Ekko van Ierland
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Hellegers, P., van Ierland, E. Policy Instruments for Groundwater Management in the Netherlands. Environ Resource Econ 26, 163–172 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025685621417

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025685621417

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