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Cultural values, deep mining operations and the use of surplus groundwater for towns, landscapes and jobs

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-20, 17:30 authored by Legg, P, Darla Hatton MacDonaldDarla Hatton MacDonald, Bark, RH, Mark TocockMark Tocock, Dugald Tinch, Rose, JM
Trade-offs involving land use change, cultural values, water resources and jobs are critically important to understand the opportunity cost of resource extraction. Stated preference techniques can be particularly useful in eliciting the non-market values expressed as trade-offs. This study assesses preferences over the management of groundwater released from deep mining operations in Western Australia. A discrete choice experiment is used to investigate the trade-offs Australians are prepared to make for remote economic, ecological and cultural goods against costs. The results suggest that there is heterogeneity of preferences as indicated by a three-class structure of a latent class model. One class supports the use of released groundwater across a range of economic, ecological and cultural uses modelled: extending town water supply, restoring rangeland habitat, creating jobs for Aboriginal Australians and preserving cultural waterholes. The smallest class supports all these uses except job creation and the final class only supports preserving cultural waterholes. These results illustrate public attitudes towards cultural values as well as wider environmental policy tensions between instrumental and intrinsic values.

History

Publication title

Ecological Economics

Volume

178

Pagination

1-9

ISSN

0921-8009

Department/School

TSBE

Publisher

Elsevier Science Bv

Place of publication

Po Box 211, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1000 Ae

Rights statement

Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V.

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Rights to environmental and natural resources (excl. water allocation)

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