Article
Valuing Watershed Services in Mexico’s Temperate Forests
Autor
Pérez Verdin, Gustavo
Návar Cháidez, José de Jesús
Su Kim, Yeon
Silva Flores, Ramón
Institución
Resumen
Water resources are highly valuable in arid, semiarid, or high-altitude areas where the sources are restricted to groundwater or flash floods occurred in short periods of time. In this paper, we present a case study where water is economically valued through nonmarket valuation techniques. A follow-up review of similarly- conducted case studies in Mexico was carried out to evaluate the potential relationships that elevation, mois- ture index, and human development index have over the economic value of water. The main factors influ- encing the value of water in our case study were income, education, age, and family size. Bivariate correla- tions of the case studies in the country suggest that there is no a significant relationship between water value and elevation, although there is some relationship between water value, moisture index, and the human de- velopment index. Dryer areas and more developed communities tend to pay more for an improvement in current water resources conditions. These results can help decision-makers to consider regional policies aimed to improve water management conditions in semiarid and less-developed communities in Mexico.