Cape Town made world headlines in 2018 as a major city on the brink of seeing its taps run dry. Its predicament drew attention to the challenge that water scarcity presents for cities in the 21st century. Globally, over four billion people face severe freshwater shortages and this number is expected to rise (Mekonnen and Hoekstra, 2016). The Water Resources Group (2017) predicts that by 2030 there will be a 40% gap between freshwater supply and demand if business-as-usual water management continues.

To expand and maintain water supply infrastructure in rural regions of devel​oping countries, planners and policymakers need better information on the preferences of households who might use the sources. What is the relative importance of price, distance and quality in a households decision to use a source? If a water source increases fees, perhaps to cover maintenance or planned replacement, how will the total amount of water abstracted and revenue collected change?

"Integrating sustainability, justice and diversity?: opportunities and challenges for inclusively framing water research" in "Rethinking environmentalism: linking justice, sustainability and diversity". In S.Lele, S.Brondizio, J.Byrne, G.Mace, J.Martinez-Alier (Eds). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Despite work’s importance in most people’s overall sense of purpose in life, several studies measuring momentary well-being find that people are quite unhappy while at work. The study populations and the nature of work in these studies, however, are all similar: industrialized workers doing paid labor in the formal sector. What about the large fraction of humanity for whom “work” is primarily working on smallholder farms, tending cattle or collecting water or firewood?

Policy makers and utility managers can use a variety of tariff structures to calculate customers’ bills for water and sanitation services, ranging from a simple flat monthly fee to complicated multipart tariffs with seasonal pricing based on metered water use. This paper examines the performance of alternative tariff structures for water and wastewater services in Nairobi, Kenya.

Social norms comparisons are tools that are being used more and more often by energy and water utilities all over the world in order to induce households to conserve resources. Such conservation programs are appealing to utilities because they are an easy-to-implement alternative to raising prices and commonly result in short-term reductions in energy and water use of about 2-5%. However, the welfare effects of social norms programs are rarely discussed and assessed, especially in the context of municipal water supply.