上海市地面沉降的经济损失评估

地面沉降是普遍的城市灾害和典型的缓慢积累型地质灾害。本文首次采用工程费用法,结合修正的人力资本法,定量评估了上海市由于地面沉降而修筑黄埔江、苏州河沿岸防汛墙的经济损失,估算了地面沉降造成码头、港口受淹、市区积水、桥梁净空减少等方面的经济损失。得出上海地面沉降的经济损失总额达508470.379万元,自1921年地面沉降以来每年的经济损失为7263.626万元。研究表明,控制地面沉降不仅具有积极的环境效益,更具有显著的经济效益。     

对地震保险体制改革的探索

从研究地震灾害规律和保险经营特点之间的矛盾入手,叙述地震保险经营的困难,剖析我国现行地震保险体制的缺陷,提出了建立一个新的,相对科学和合理的地震保险体制的若干建议。     

FLOOD MANAGEMENT: WHO BENEFITS AND WHO PAYS1

ABSTRACT: The distribution of costs and benefits among groups in society of alternative flood management actions is examined in terms of their final incidence or resting place-their influence on real estate values. The alternatives examined include structures, disaster relief, floodproofing, watershed land treatment, floodplain zoning, and flood insurance. The impact of each alternative on the amount of flood disability cost paid by the landowner is examined and variations among alternatives are used to explain the past political success of structures and relief as compared to zoning, floodproofing, and insurance.     

THEORY AND REALITY IN ALLOCATING FEDERAL RESOURCES TO WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT1

ABSTRACT: Federal spending on water resource development projects exceeds $10 billion annually. This paper examines the economic theory and practice on which the Federal water resource development plans are based. Existing theoretical and applied problems result in overinvestment. These include 1) no standard of value for the tradeoff of environmental objectives with economic objectives; 2) benefits based on “willingness to pay,” but beneficiaries pay only a fraction of a project's costs; 3) beneficiaries “shop around” among program purposes in order to reduce their commitments; and 4) benefit/cost (B/C) analyses are based on a discount rate, which is consistently below the Federal borrowing rate. Furthermore, the Government Accounting Office (GAO) frequently finds that the agency regulations are inadequate and result in inconsistent and questionable benefit computations. The President has proposed a series of water policy reforms, to reduce some of the apparent overinvestment in water resource development, but fundmental corrective action rests with the members of Congress.     

PRELIMINARY DESIGN AND COST ESTIMATING FOR RESERVOIR PROJECTS1

ABSTRACT: In estimating the costs of a reservoir project, it is difficult to produce accurate costs without performing a detailed design and quantity takeoff. The computerized procedure presented in this article provides a method for determining these planning level costs quickly and easily, while maintaining reasonable accuracy.     

THE ENHANCED ROLE OF WATER CONSERVATION IN THE COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF WATER PROJECTS1

The concept of water conservation has increased in importance because of revisions in the rules and procedures for performing cost-benefit analyses of federal water projects. These revisions include a requirement that nonstructural and water conservation measures be incorporated into economic assessments of projects. Project analyses will now proceed as if water supplies were allocated “most effectively,” that is, to their highest valued uses. A related requirement provides that the net benefits of any project should now be valued using willingness to pay measures. A specific cost-benefit methodology accommodating the revisions is constructed and discussed. Informational requirements for applying this methodology are identified. In addition to being consistent with federal mandates, this technique offers important advantages over the traditional “requirements” approach to water supply planning.     

LOCATION OF MUNICIPAL WELL FIELDS IN AN ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE REGION1

ABSTRACT: A visual selection technique can be utilized to locate potential well field sites prior to on-site testing. The technique is based upon an understanding of the regional hydrology and an appreciation for development goals such as the identification of high-yield and low-impact locations. Although the uniqueness of Pasco, Pinellas, and Hillsborough Counties in Western Florida has been incorporated into the current application, the methodology, with modifications, is transferable to other geographic regions. Overlays of each criterion used in site selection are combined to form a regional composite showing favorable site locations and further serve a useful communications role as visual aids during public presentation. Implications of direct and indirect cost savings to the public are obtained when the methodology is applied to the location of municipal well fields.     

COST ANALYSIS OF WATER AND WASTE WATER TREATMENT PROCESSES IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES1

ABSTRACT: Mathematical modeling techniques are used to develop predictive equations for cost of water and waste water treatment processes in developing countries utilizing socioeconomic, environmental, and technological indicators. Predictive equations are developed for each of the three regions (Africa, Asia, and Latin America) for construction, operation, and maintenance costs of slow sand filter, rapid sand filter, stabilization lagoon, aerated lagoon, activated sludge, and trickling filter. Data analysis indicated that cost of water treatment processes is a function of technological indicator (percentage of imported materials), population, and the design capacity. The variables which gave the best correlation for waste water treatment cost were population, design flow, and the percentage of imported waste water disposal materials.     

AN IMPLICIT APPROACH TO PRICING AGRICULTURAL WATER TRANSFERS TO URBAN USES1

ABSTRACT: The increased agricultural efficiency of the American farmer has been a substantial impetus to this nation's rapid urbanization. In many western regions where total water supplies are limited, urbanization has required the transfer of heretofore agricultural water rights to the urban use. A major problem in such transfers has been the value or price of the water. A management level model of a typical urban water system was developed to optimize water supply, distribution, and wastewater treatment alternatives. The values of agricultural transfers were determined as the cost advantages of increasing allowable reuse levels of urban effluents which imply the use of a downstream right. This procedure is justified by the economic theory of alternative cost. Results for a test application to the Denver, Colorado area indicate values on the order of $1,000 per acre-foot of transferable water depending on effluent water quality restrictions and operational policies.     

SOCIO-ECONOMIC ACCOUNTING APPLIED TO WATER RESOURCE PLANNING1

ABSTRACT The growing social consciousness and concern with human well-being has resulted in numerous water resource use and control programs, the results of which must be measured not in the customary monetary terms, but rather in terms of social and human welfare. Interdisciplinary research offers the greatest promise of yielding fruitful results in establishing planning methodology that would result in a maximum utilization of funds available for water resource programs. Working with the various social science disciplines, accountants have begun research in social measurement thus opening the door to a new field of accountancy known as socio-economic accounting. The development of social accounting systems will improve water resource management by projecting heretofore unmeasureable social values into the management decision making process.