Preferences for Alternative Water Supplies in the Pacific Northwest: A Discrete Choice Experiment

Abstract

Understanding residential water preferences allows utility and municipal water managers to improve residents’ welfare through informed pricing and investment decisions. This paper employs a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to elicit residents’ stated preferences for water sources, storage methods, and conservation policies across the inland Pacific Northwest. Generally, results suggest that—conditional on needing an additional municipal water supply—individuals have a strong aversion to creek water, and are relatively indifferent to reclaimed wastewater or additional diversions from large rivers. Residents also have a strong preference for additional local water storage, either in the form of aquifer injection or reservoirs. DCE results suggest strong heterogeneity in preferences correlated with gender and issue awareness, but few other seemingly relevant respondent characteristics are significant in explaining this heterogeneity. In particular, males are significantly more price-driven than females, while females more strongly oppose lawn watering restrictions and are more strongly favor local storage options. Respondents familiar with the water supply issues in the region favor using reclaimed water over all other available water sources.