European blues : blue services in a European perspective

Land owners who offer blue services make their land available for activities such as water conservation, peak-flow storage or the containment of the rise of the groundwater level, and receive payments that exceed the compensation for incurred costs. The Netherlands is a pioneer in the concept of blue services, but other European countries may also offer possibilities for such activities. There are a number of institutional factors that either hamper or stimulate the realisation of blue services. The factors this study focuses on are, for example, the land price, transaction costs, property rights and the underlying policy rules on several administrative levels. Subsequent to a description of different factors, this study presents case studies of the United Kingdom, Hungary and Germany (the Dinkel river) in which the factors are evaluated according to their contribution to the realisation of blue services. The study focuses on the blue service 'peak-flow storage'.