Water does not flow up hill: determinants of willingness to pay for water conservation measures in the mountains of western North Carolina

• We survey households in two Western North Carolina counties.
• We assess private water conservation behaviors.
• We use the Contingent Valuation Method to estimate support for conservation measures oriented toward demand side management.
• Support for publically funded conservation depends on households’ water source.
• Private and public conservation measures are weakly complementary.

Even in historically water-rich areas, population growth and drought put pressure on water supplies. Understanding public attitudes about water management and, especially water conservation, may become increasingly salient as even humid regions attempt to shift to demand side management. Using the contingent valuation method we estimate the willingness to pay for water conservation measures. Our analysis finds that younger individuals, individuals with higher education and higher income are more likely to say they are willing to pay for these measures. We also find that valuations depend on how the water source is managed. People who are on municipal water or a shared well are willing to pay more for public water conservation measures than individuals who have their own well or access to a spring. In addition we find that older individuals and respondents who have ancestors in the area are less willing to pay for water conservation methods. Lastly, using bivariate probit analysis that focuses on averting behavior and our contingent valuation question, we find that there are some unmeasured characteristics of respondents that make them more likely to participate in private averting behavior and increase their willingness to pay for public water conservation measures.