Risk, Drinking Water and Harmful Algal Blooms: A Contingent Valuation of Water Bans
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Risk, Drinking Water and Harmful Algal Blooms: A Contingent Valuation of Water Bans Marie-Pier Schinck 1 & Chloé L’Ecuyer-Sauvageau 2 Charlène Kermagoret 2 & Jérôme Dupras 2
1
& Justin Leroux &
Received: 30 March 2020 / Accepted: 18 August 2020/ # Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract
Facilities using surface water to provide drinking water to communities must contend with the risk of cyanobacteria and cyanotoxin infiltration. Although risk management protocols can be put in place to anticipate the presence of cyanotoxins in concentrations exceeding guidelines, based on cyanobacterial cell count for example, this indicator is not infallible. The Canadian province of Quebec, among other jurisdictions, issues water bans when high concentrations of cyanotoxins are detected. While necessary, these bans are costly to communities. We perform a contingent valuation survey in areas at risk of being impacted by a water ban in the future to assess the preferences of residents and the economic value of detection and treatment tools that could eliminate cyanotoxins. The survey was completed by 240 people. Each respondent was asked a double-bounded dichotomous choice question. The scenario implied changes to the current situation regarding the possibility of predicting the presence of cyanotoxins in the facility, the average duration of water bans, the possibility of providing advance notice, all relative to the cost of these measures. The analysis of the survey responses allowed us to determine the willingness to pay (WTP) of households for diagnostic and treatment tools in drinking water facilities. Our analysis indicates that the mean WTP was $135 per household per year. Given that the experts developing the tools estimate the cost of implementation at $110 per household per year, our results suggest that implementation is economically viable. Keywords Water quality . Public health . Risk assessment . Water bans . Harmful algal blooms . Contingent valuation
* Chloé L’Ecuyer-Sauvageau [email protected]
1
Département d’économie appliquée, HEC Montréal, 3000 chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Montréal, QC, Canada
2
Département des Sciences Naturelles, Université du Québec en Outaouais, 58, rue Principale, Ripon, QC, Canada
Schinck M.P. et al.
1 Introduction Cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, are micro-organisms naturally living in waterbodies. Their presence in low concentrations is usually not problematic, but harmful algal blooms (HAB) can have severe detrimental impacts. Blooms generally occur in areas where waterbodies are excessively enriched by nutrients coming in part from agricultural and urban runoff. In urban areas, impervious surfaces reduce water absorption by the soil and increase runoff, which also puts pressure on combined sewers (Scholz et al. 2017). At the lake level, a number of factors amplify the severity and occurrence of blooms, namely temperatures above 23 degrees Celsius, extreme rainfall events that contribute to erosion, the presence of pollutants, and invasive species (Saxton et al. 2011, Stef
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