The Water Economics Research Group (WERG) aims to advance the field of water resources economics and support water management and policy through the development and application of economic models, methods and policy instruments.
The group’s main research interests are in non-market water resources valuation, integrated hydro-economic modelling and the design and evaluation of water policy instruments, including water pricing and payments for ecosystem services, to support sustainable water resources management in Canada and elsewhere.
We develop integrated decision-support tools using optimization based on cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit and multi-criteria analysis, and apply these to a wide variety of water-related challenges, such as:
- Source water protection in forested watersheds
- Best management practices on agricultural land
- Urban water security
- River restoration
- Water and sanitation in fast-growing mega-cities
- Eutrophication and harmful algal blooms in the Great Lakes
- Marine plastics clean-up
