Abstract

CHAVEZ-CORTES, Marta Magdalena  and  MANCILLA-HERNANDEZ, Karla Erika. Charging Scheme for Hydrological Services Provided by the Upper Pixquiac River Watershed. Tecnol. cienc. agua [online]. 2014, vol.5, n.5, pp.161-177. ISSN 2007-2422.

From a hydrological point of view, forests provide multiple benefits to society; among them, water collection and purification. Yet they are still subjected to alarming rates of deforestation, which is why the payment of environmental services is seen as a promising conservation strategy. The goal of this work was to determine a water tariff that can be applied to water users in the Pixquiac River watershed, using the opportunity cost method. Our results show cattle to be the main economic activity competing for land use. The study determined that the amount consumers should pay for water services provided by the forest is $0.473/m³ during the first year and $0.232/m³ from year two to year ten. It concludes that that the market price for the activity competing with forest conservation is a determinant of the feasibility of applying a water tariff. The applicability of the tariff will also depend on the consumers' willingness to pay and their income level. Hence the need to complement this research with a contingent valuation study to determine the amount consumers would be willing to pay to have water in enough quantity and quality to satisfy their current needs.

Keywords : Economic-ecological evaluation; payment for environmental services; water collection; hydrological monetary rate.