Water for cultural and religious purposes, referred to as ceremonial and subsistence (C&S) use, is a distinctive feature of many Indigenous and other communities. Whether this constitutes a legitimate claim for water for an American Indian Tribe in the United States was litigated in the context of a trial to determine the federal government’s obligation to reserve water for Indian Tribes whom it had settled on reservations during the 19th century. Following a U.S.

Environmental Services include all contributions of nature to humans, and these are relative according to the context and the existence of alternatives (IPBES 2019). Ecosystem degradation jeopardizes the sustainable provision of these services. In this context, Payne for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes arose as policy instruments that promote pro-environmental land use through financial incentives for actions that improve, maintain, or maximize the provision of ES (Kim et al. 2016). 

Pollution of water resources is a widespread challenge across the globe which requires effective policy measures. However, in many instances, state institutions are weak in addressing these problems. One then wonders what alternative management regimes can be used in place of public policies. This study examined the willingness to pay (WTP) for the improvement of the Ankobra River, a mining-polluted river in the Western Region of Ghana, using the contingent valuation method.