In order to determine the willingness of the population of São Carlos (a city in the state of São Paulo, Brazil) to pay for the environmental protection (WTP) of the Feijão River´s watershed, the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM), as well as the bidding-games technique, were used. In October 2010, 280 questionnaires were applied to a probabilistic sample of the population. A multivariate logistic regression model was built, creating five scenarios adjusted to the age and probability to pay according to the significant variables found. Concerning the WTP, 56% of the interviewees showed willingness to pay a monthly amount using the water bill as a vehicle for this. The WTP average was 1.94 US Dollar (USD), with a standard deviation of 1.91 USD. The total annual amount for the scenario that considers the whole population over 18 years old was of USD 3,930,616.80. The main argument for the negative WTP was that the interviewees could not afford it (14%).Keywords: contingent valuation, economic valuation of water resources, environmental protection, urban watersheds, Brazil, developing country. Palavras-chave: valoração contingente, valoração econômica dos recursos hídricos, proteção ambiental, bacias hidrográficas urbanas, Brasil, país em desenvolvimento.
Avaliação econômica de bacias hidrográficas
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.