Water flows and cash flows

Artikelnummer 10124470

In deciding the course the Dutch government wants to take regarding the Water Guidelines and The Bird and Habitat Guidelines (Natura 2000), costs play a significant part. In the Netherlands it is customary also to concretely calculate the possible profits and to balance the two. In 2006, for both policy documents cost profit analyses have been undertaken on a national scale. However, the real decision-making takes place on a regional level. Commissioned by the Vereniging Natuurmonumenten, Knowledge Centre Triple E has mapped out for two areas the costs and also the expected revenues of the Guidelines Water and Natura 2000, in particular for the Oostelijk Vechtplassen-gebied and the Volkerak-Zoommeer. Based on the public profit results of the various sectors of industry, and interviews with entrepreneurs in the areas, it proved possible to arrive at a concrete estimate of which part of the profits can be attributed to the presence of water and nature. Based on these monetary basic data of ‘green blue’ profits, it turns out a fair estimate can be made of the extra profits after implementation of the measures according to the Guidelines Water and Natura 2000. These data can then be used to calculate a recovery time of the costs for society as a whole and for the government. In principle, this method is applicable to every area. In both regions the measures taken appear to have had a positive effect on the regional economies. The related social cost recovery time in both cases can be called relatively short. In the economically intensively used Vechtplassengebied the governmental cost recovery time turns out to be shorter than in an area with as yet unused potential; such as the Volkerak-Zoommeer. Yet, in both cases we are forced to conclude that investing in clean water does indeed pay off.

pp. 89 / Geïllustreerd / Illustrated / Illustré / Illustriert