Ecological Economics and Environmental Economics: Theory and Valuation of Water Resources

Abstract

The management of water resources is one of the most important issues and to find solutions that lead to the sustainable use of them. It is crucial to the extent that it has an intrinsic value in all its possible uses (economic, biological, environmental, etc.). Under this premise, the present article makes a theoretical approach on the same that traditionally antagonistic in the management of environmental goods and services, the Ecological Economy (EE) and the Environmental Economy (EA). The discussion contrasts with the holistic of the EA with the reductionism of the EA and reflection on the virtues of each approach in the harmonization of practice to achieve the same goal, contribute to the sustainable development of communities and territories. The article has a documentary and reflective route based on the method of assessment on the main theoretical elements and presents the maximum methodological and instrumental exponents of each one so that the pertinence of the application of them can be known under an integration scheme rather than of exclusion, therefore, as an essential instrument in the formulation of any proposal for Environmental Policy.