Methodologies for valuation of water services

The chapter reviews the techniques for valuation and suggests which ones might best be used for the SEEA water accounts. Section 7.2 introduces economic concepts of value and describes how the natural characteristics of water have often hindered the development of markets and market prices, necessitating use of valuation techniques to estimate water value. Section 7.3 provides an overview of the valuation techniques commonly used for water with particular emphasis on the consistency with the concept of value used in the national accounts. Section 7.4 discusses in more detail the strengths and limitations of the various valuation techniques and the empirical application of these techniques.