Abstract
Over the last decades, Cooperative Agreements (CAs) (voluntary, payments for ecosystem services (PES) schemes etc.) have been introduced as supplements to existing command and control regulations, i.e. as part of policy mix, for promoting higher water and environmental efficiency levels than mandated by law. This chapter illustrates the effectiveness and efficiency of CAs among farmers, water companies, authorities and citizens to achieve water policy goals in Europe and beyond. These include voluntary agreements and PES schemes to improve water quality in Dorset (UK), in Evian (France) and in New York (USA) and river restoration in Ebro (Spain). A negotiation agreement to cope with increasing water scarcity by promoting the use of reclaimed water in Tordera and Llobregat (Spain) is also analysed. The economic, environmental and social outcomes from the implementation of these CAs along with their institutional set-up, transactions costs and policy implementability are highlighted. Overall conclusions from the findings of the representative case study areas are finally presented.
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Notes
- 1.
In addition to CAs, Chap. 1 introduces another type of instruments, i.e. risk-based mechanisms which rely on the influence of differential insurance premiums and liabilities (compensation) levels (Delacamara et al. 2013). The former refers to insurance schemes against natural and man-made disasters which have recently promoted by the European Commission’s Adaptation Strategy to climate change. More particularly, its aim is to improve the market penetration of natural disaster insurance and unleash the full potential of insurance pricing and other financial products for risk-awareness prevention and mitigation and for long-term resilience in investment and business decisions (EC 2013). Example of these schemes is provided by Gomez et al. (2013) where insurance addressing drought risk, i.e. a financial mechanism that covers the loss of or damage to crops caused by insufficient rainfall, was explored in Tagus-Segura (Spain) (Delacamara et al. 2013). Liabilities refer to schemes to prevent and remedy damage to animals, plants, natural habitats and water resources and they are promoted by the Environmental Liability Directive (2004/35/EC). Examples of compensation schemes for environmental damage have been examined for selective case study areas in Europe such as in Sweden (tank collapse and chemical release), Czech Republic (coal mining pollution), UK (effects of abstraction for public water supply on the ecological integrity of river), Germany (compensation in the form of habitat banking, i.e. creation of nature conservation areas from the construction of new infrastructure) (Cole and Kriström 2007). Risk-based mechanisms were not assessed as part of the EPI-WATER project and therefore, no case study areas were included in this chapter.
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Maziotis, A., Lago, M. (2015). Other Types of Incentives in Water Policy: An Introduction. In: Lago, M., Mysiak, J., Gómez, C., Delacámara, G., Maziotis, A. (eds) Use of Economic Instruments in Water Policy. Global Issues in Water Policy, vol 14. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18287-2_22
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