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Choosing Alternatives to Contaminated Groundwater Supplies: A Sequential Decision Framework Under Uncertainty

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2017

Carol L. Sarnat ,
Cleve E. Willis  and
Carolyn R. Harper
Carol L. Sarnat
Affiliation:
St. Paul. Minnesota
Cleve E. Willis
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts. Amherst
Carolyn R. Harper
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts. Amherst
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Abstract

In increasing numbers, communities that rely on groundwater for drinking supplies have discovered contamination from agricultural pesticides and herbicides, road salt, underground fuel storage, and septic systems. A variety of short- and long-run remedies are available with highly uncertain outcomes. An appropriate technique for solving a benefit-cost problem of this type is a sequential decision framework using stochastic dynamic programming procedures for solution. The approach is illustrated here by means of an application to the problem of the recent contamination of the groundwater of Whately, Massachusetts by the agricultural fumigant EDB and the pesticide aldicarb.

Type
Articles
Information
Northeastern Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics , Volume 16 , Issue 2 , October 1987 , pp. 102 - 112
Copyright
Copyright © 1987 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

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