Irrigation development in the Fitzroy Basin : production and development tradeoffs

In the Fitzroy basin of Central Queensland, there is continued interest in the further development of water resources and floodplain areas for irrigation purposes. State government policy calls for a balance to be struck between economic development and the protection of environmental resources. One way of determining where that balance should lie is to compare the benefits of further development with the value of environmental losses. A non-market valuation project is being established to estimate values for environmental and social factors associated with irrigation development in the Fitzroy basin. The project is being designed to explore some theoretical issues as well as provide policy makers with data about environmental values. The theoretical issues of interest focus on the extent to which values can be transferred between similar case studies and the processes by which values can be apportioned between different components. This report outlines the broad context in which the studies will be undertaken.