OCR Text |
Show 40 current systems is not always a feasible option. In this case, JVWCD's wholesale marketing of water acts as an obstacle to economic incentives like the ones implemented by SLCDPU. JVWCD demonstrates the difficulty of targeting a community of users with economic incentive. This is because individual water use should be targeted to encourage conservation. Targeting other factors, such as population, or family size, may have the effect of making water conservation and the water conservation agency unpopular, and, more importantly, may not result in substantial water savings ( Burr, 5/ 21/ 03). Additionally, economic incentives may also clash with the agency's primary goal of providing water service, and lower income households may not be able to afford adequate water services. Besides targeting a lower socioeconomic population unfairly, it also may not target upper income high water users to discourage inefficient use. These were concerns expressed by Duer in explaining SLCDPU's rate restructuring program, as well as issues voiced in newspaper articles about the rate restructuring. These possible problems with economic incentives to water conservation occur primarily when the economic incentives are poorly structured ( Duer, 10/ 19/ 03). This analysis shows that well- designed economic incentives are more effective as a component of a water conservation program than education or regulation alone. Economic incentives to conserve water work to reflect the true cost of a scarce resource. This results in a much faster rate of compliance than voluntary measures ( Pole, 1995, p. 108). In this analysis, economic incentive turns out to be the most effective approach to water conservation because true |