Role and impact of urban water prices on the management of groundwater consumption due to Covid-19 outbreaks

The main objective of this study is to investigate the environmental role and impact of urban water prices, and hence its consumption in Tehran on its groundwater level drawdown. The issue gets vital in times of drought when the scarcity value of water exceeds benefits of groundwater environmental flow. Hence, the argument is that urban water tariffs may play a role in managing groundwater flow. In this regard, the harmful impact of urban water consumption on the environmental flow of groundwater resources is distinguished. Then the objective would be to identify determinants of urban water consumption. To do so, an urban water's demand function, including important key regressors such as price, income, temperature, and rainfall is estimated. Moreover, the role of Covid-19 in urban water consumption is highlighted. Results show a demand elasticity of -0.29 & PLUSMN; 0.1 for urban water consumption, or that a 10 percent increase in average price results in a decline in urban water consumption of 1.9-3.9 percent. In addition, one percent lower urban water consumption causes 1.3 & PLUSMN; 0.1 percent less groundwater extraction, or that response of a 10 percent decrease in the consumption could cause a decline in groundwater extraction of 12-14 percent. Last but not least, a 1 percent decrease in underground extraction for urban water raises 13.2 & PLUSMN; 6.7 cm of GRACE water level after three months. The results show that groundwater exploitation for urban drinking water is a responsible contributor to the water level drawdown in Tehran. In addition, the significant elasticity of 0.29 shows that price mechanisms are useful to manage hydrological scarcity and the consequent disasters. Moreover, observing significant effects of covid-related determinants for calming down the upward trend of groundwater extraction, we alert for postcovid deterioration of subsidence areas due to regrowth of water consumption.