Alternative methods of improving stream quality: An economic and policy analysis

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Abstract
Neither markets nor other institutional mechanisms exist on which to register the benefits and costs of alternative stream qualities or of alternative methods of achieving a given stream quality. It is therefore necessary to study such benefit and costs and to design special public policies to achieve desirable stream qualities in an economical way. The two most prominent methods of improving stream quality are waste treatment and low flow augmentation. Estimates are presented of the cost of achieving given stream qualities by various combinations of waste treatment and low flow augmentation. Data are taken from the authors' study of future water supply and demand in Maryland, but the conclusions are thought to be applicable throughout the humid eastern part of the United States. The main conclusion is that low flow augmentation is a less economical method of improving stream quality than about 90% waste removal by secondary treatment, or its equivalent in industrial process changes, at the point of waste generation. Alternative public policies for achieving improved stream qualities by economical methods are evaluated. A combination of effluent fees and enforcement is judged desirable. (Key words: Dams; economics; oxygen;quality of water; waste disposal).

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