Economic Evaluation of Groundwater Resources in Effutu Municipality

This research article presents an economic evaluation of groundwater resources in the Effutu Municipality, focusing on the Gisser-Sanchez effect. The study aims to assess the validity of the claim that the benefits from groundwater management interventions are minimal compared to unmanaged scenarios. A sample of one hundred groundwater-user households was surveyed using a contingent valuation method to determine their willingness to pay for groundwater under two quality regimes: unmanaged and hypothetically managed. The analysis employed the Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test to identify statistical differences in economic values assigned to groundwater based on quality. Findings indicate that users are willing to pay 20 Pesewas for unmanaged groundwater and 30 Pesewas for managed groundwater, revealing a significant difference in economic value. The study concludes that improving groundwater quality can enhance its economic value, recommending treatment efforts to elevate groundwater quality to that of treated pipe-borne water in the municipality.