Developing a Partial Equilibrium Model of an Urban Water System

Urban water and its management have been the subject of much public debate. The timing and choice of investments to augment water supply, different approaches to water pricing, and the tools of demand management have all been the subject of discussion. Outlined in this paper is a model that can be used to quantify the costs and benefits of policy options to improve outcomes in urban water systems. An earlier version of the paper was presented at the Australian Conference of Economists on 30 September 2009, and was awarded the prize for best contributed paper