Valuation of water use in agriculture – polish example

Abstract

The aim of the study was to propose a method for the valuation of water use in agriculture. Authors proposed an indirect valuation method – the alternative cost of water abstraction based on the cost of water from public supply. It was found, that there are several problems with statistical data on water use in agriculture, e.g. it is mostly estimations and it actually covers water used in agriculture, forestry and fishing. Proposed valuation method was used to valuate water use in Polish agriculture.
It was calculated, that that cost equaled to almost PLN 4.5 billion in 2016, which means the cost per farm at the level over PLN 3.2 thousand.