000106152 001__ 106152 000106152 005__ 20210902121803.0 000106152 0247_ $$2doi$$a10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.106608 000106152 0248_ $$2sideral$$a118095 000106152 037__ $$aART-2020-118095 000106152 041__ $$aeng 000106152 100__ $$0(orcid)0000-0002-9454-7896$$aTapia, Javier$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza 000106152 245__ $$aEconomic valuation of the natural service of nitrate regulation provided by rivers including dilution effects: Application to a semiarid region, the Ebro basin (Spain) 000106152 260__ $$c2020 000106152 5060_ $$aAccess copy available to the general public$$fUnrestricted 000106152 5203_ $$aNitrogen pollution is one of the main problems affecting the environment and human activity. This is especially true in semiarid regions where the quantity-quality relationship is a key constraining factor. In this paper, we propose and apply a method to quantify the economic value of the environmental service a river provides as a nitrate purifier/diluent. The main aim is to provide water management decisions with a solid and easily replicable method. Specifically, this study proposes a method to assess two processes of the water quality regulation service, namely, nitrate removal and dilution, through avoided decontamination costs. The proposed method is applied in the Ebro river basin as a role model. This application allows us to define the concepts in an operational manner. Since water availability forecasts are a key factor, we explore and analyze our results in accordance with several climate-change scenarios. The results show that the economic value of the removal service at the watershed scale amounts to about €92.3 million per year. Estimates of the annual economic value of the dilution service in the whole basin range more largely from €21.8 to €111.7 million, depending on the climate change scenario considered. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the dilution and removal services provided by rivers are jointly assessed. 000106152 536__ $$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/INIA/RTA2017-00082-00-00$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/ECO2016-75927-R$$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EUR/SUDOE/INTERREG/AGUAMOD-SOE1-P5-F0026 000106152 540__ $$9info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess$$aby-nc-nd$$uhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/es/ 000106152 590__ $$a4.958$$b2020 000106152 591__ $$aENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES$$b72 / 273 = 0.264$$c2020$$dQ2$$eT1 000106152 592__ $$a1.314$$b2020 000106152 593__ $$aDecision Sciences (miscellaneous)$$c2020$$dQ1 000106152 593__ $$aEcology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics$$c2020$$dQ1 000106152 593__ $$aEcology$$c2020$$dQ1 000106152 655_4 $$ainfo:eu-repo/semantics/article$$vinfo:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion 000106152 700__ $$0(orcid)0000-0003-4028-2965$$aBielsa, Jorge$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza 000106152 700__ $$0(orcid)0000-0003-3552-1810$$aMartínez Martínez, Yolanda$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza 000106152 700__ $$aSauvage, Sabine 000106152 700__ $$aCakir, Roxelane 000106152 700__ $$aRaimonet, Mélanie 000106152 700__ $$aGerino, Magali 000106152 700__ $$aSánchez-Pérez, José Miguel 000106152 7102_ $$14000$$2415$$aUniversidad de Zaragoza$$bDpto. Análisis Económico$$cÁrea Fund. Análisis Económico 000106152 773__ $$g117 (2020), 106608 1-11$$pEcol. Indic.$$tEcological Indicators$$x1470-160X 000106152 8564_ $$s620050$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/106152/files/texto_completo.pdf$$yPostprint 000106152 8564_ $$s2213050$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/106152/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon$$xicon$$yPostprint 000106152 909CO $$ooai:zaguan.unizar.es:106152$$particulos$$pdriver 000106152 951__ $$a2021-09-02-09:56:21 000106152 980__ $$aARTICLE