Socio-Economic Measures for Achieving Total Water Cost Recovery: A Brief Analysis with Illustration from the Evrotas River Basin, Greece

The EU Water Framework Directive is considered a first systematic approach to ensure the quality of freshwater ecosystems holistically. At the core of the Directive is the concept of 'Total' costs and benefits of water use, i.e. the financial, environmental and resource costs of water use. Many studies stress the importance of conceptualizing and monetizing the total water costs. Nevertheless, implementing total water cost recovery may raise social and redistributive concerns. We discuss the approaches to implement total water cost recovery with illustrations from the Evtoras River Basin in Greece. We argue that the measures might not work towards achieving total water cost recovery. We thus complement the analysis with a brief discussion of the socio-economic tools and instruments that policy makers may additionaly consider. We conclude with some policy recommendations and insights in support of well-informed policy making.