Determination of global water value to improve water management in Ardabil plain, Iran

Ardabil plain is under water deficit due to its cold and dry climate in both drinking and agricultural water supply. One solution that can partially address this issue is comprehensive water management. In this study, to determine the global water value, both agricultural water and drinking water were valuated separately in Ardabil plain, Iran. In agriculture, major crops were valuated using the production function method. In the next step, the willingness to pay (WTP) extra for municipal drinking water was investigated. Finally, the results of irrigation water and drinking water assessment were combined to obtain the global water value. In addition, to obtain global water value, economic values in agricultural and urban drinking water were determined, which in agricultural sector was equal to 43,654,248 $ and in drinking water sector was equal to 8,546,384 $. Based on these results, the global water value was 52,200,632 $.