Value and price: conuting ecosystems as urban water infrastructure

Sustainable management of urban water relies on our ability to integrate knowledge from ecological, social and economic disciplines, and our capacity to examine the functioning of the system as a whole. Three functions of water charges (infrastructure investment, consumption and resource awareness) were investigated using a survey of households in two New Zealand urban communities. Auckland and Christchurch represent opposing endpoints on a continuum relating to charging policies, access to information for consumers, water availability and resource “identification, ownership and pride”. A consumer surplus for the maintenance of water related ecosystem goods and services was identified in both communities. Attitudinal and behavioural variables explaining differences in the willingness to pay for water and ecosystem goods and services are discussed. Perceptions of, and expectations for, water management were found to be significantly different between the two communities, displaying an adherence to “identity constructs”. Appropriate pricing and water management policies have an inherent potential to drive the required shift towards low impact, sustainable, urban communities. In particular, efforts must be made toward counting ecosystems as an integral part of urban water infrastructure. A transdisciplinary framework for urban water management can help bridge the gap between currently segregated hydrological, bio-physical, social (including cultural) and economic systems of water management.