Economic valuation of water

Economic valuation of water has an important and decisive role in the efficient allocation of water resources, appropriate policies and effective decision-making. The literature of the country contains a large number of articles and significant efforts in the field of economic valuation of water. The extent and diversity of Published studies requires that a general overview of the economic valuation of water in the country be provided by reviewing these studies. In this article, by extracting, categorizing and analyzing the existing studies on water valuation in different sectors of the economy, we try to reach a general conclusion about the policies proposed and common methods in these studies. In addition, this paper attempts to identify study gaps by critique of the methods used and, finally, offers suggestions for future research in the field of water economic valuation. According to the summary, increasing the price of water in all uses, including industrial, urban and agricultural uses, is recommended. The conditions for water value-based pricing are available for industrial and urban use, and in the agricultural sector requires government support and technology development. The economic value of water-related ecosystem services is among the highest levels of economic value in water uses. Therefore, it is recommended that conservation of natural flow in aquatic ecosystems be a priority for resource allocation.