Economic aspects of implementation of environmental flows

Abstract

Sustainable management of water resources requires leaving in the rivers a flow that ensures biological life. Since 2014, water authorities have been seeking to develop a methodology for determining environmental flows that are to reflect the inherently time-changing environmental water needs. The paper presents economic aspects of the implementation of environmental flows that will
bring environmental benefits from providing the necessary amount of water for aquatic ecosystems as well as for water dependent ecosystems. However, on the other hand, they can cause significant costs for existing water users and limitations in economic use of water resources in the future. The cost-benefit approach is developed to estimate costs and benefits from introducing  environmental flows in river basins. As the result the unit costs and benefits indicators for different water users are estimated and
applied for the economic analysis in six study areas. The outcomes provide new information and methodological approach for decision-making about implementation of environmental flows.