About the Project

WP 4: In-depth evaluation of selected economic instruments

Central to the EPI-Water research project, WP4 proposes an in-depth and ex-ante assessment of economic instruments applicable to four policy thematic areas: floods/excess water, drought/water scarcity, ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation, and water quality control. The most suitable geographic focus area has been chosen for each of the above policy domains:

• Tagus and Segura (Spain) for water scarcity/drought issues;
• Seine-Normandie (France) for the issue related to ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation;
• Tisza valley (Hungary) for the flood protection and management; and
• the Odense catchment (Denmark) for water quality issues.

For each policy thematic area above, the modelled or expected performance of a number of economic instruments will be examined, and compared to the existing policy framework and command-and-control options. Based on the grounding hypotheses and insights produced in WP3, the performance of the examined economic instruments will be simulated under the given geophysical and socio-economic conditions. The assessments will be carried out in close interaction with local stakeholders and policy makers to ensure practical and implementation constraints are well-considered. The results of the assessment exercises will be compared and synthesised in comprehensive policy reports giving advise on:

1. what policy instrument yields best results under given conditions;
2. what combination of instruments appears to be most advantageous for meeting given policy objectives (e.g. good ecological status under the WFD); and
3. how these instruments should be implemented so as to exploit their full potential.

WP4 will provide a feedback for the revision/extension of the Assessment Framework developed in WP2. The WP4 is organised into four tasks (one task for each river basin), each task been further split into a number
of subtasks. The tasks/subtasks are briefly described below. As a key component of the project, WP4 claim about half of the total number of person months of the project. Similarly, the activities of the WP4 extend over a
period of 20 months. All consortium partners, the Policy Think-Tank and the ‘Inspiration from beyond EU’ group are involved in the WP4 assessment exercises.

WP4 OBJECTIVES

• Assess the performance of different and innovative economic instruments under different hydrological, socio-economic, cultural and institutional conditions.
• Analyse their ability and effectiveness to respond to water policy priorities in particular: flood management, water scarcity/drought management, ecosystem and biodiversity conservation, and water quality management.
• Demonstrate the suitability of the WP2 Assessment Framework,
• Test the WP3 hypotheses/conclusions about the performance of the different EPI under different hydrological, socio-economic, cultural and institutional conditions.