title: Assessing the cost of groundwater pollution: the case of diffuse agricultural pollution in the Upper Rhine valley aquifer.
abstract: This paper presents an assessment of the costs of diffuse groundwater pollution by nitrates and pesticides for the industrial and the drinking water sectors in the Upper Rhine valley, France. Pollution costs which occurred between 1988 and 2002 are described and assessed using the avoidance cost method. Geo-statistical methods (kriging) are then used to construct three scenarios of nitrate concentration evolution. The economic consequences of each scenario are then assessed. The estimates obtained are compared with the results of a contingent valuation study carried out in the same study area ten years earlier.
authors.affiliation: BRGM French Geological Survey, Water Department, 1039 rue de Pinville, 34000 Montpellier, France. jd.rinaudo@brgm.fr
authors.forename: J-D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Rinaudo
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Arnal
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Blanchin
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Elsass
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meilhac
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Loubier
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D005602:France; D018803:Models, Economic; D009566:Nitrates; D010575:Pesticides; D045483:Rivers; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis / Q000191:economics*; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000191:economics*; D014881:Water Supply / Q000592:standards*
chemical_list: D009566:Nitrates; D010575:Pesticides; D012989:Soil Pollutants