Evaluation techniques on the losses of environmental value of groundwater nitrate pollution sourced from high-yielding farmlands in North China—A case study from Huantai County,Shandong Province

By using the human capital approach (HCA),preventive expenditure approach (PEA) and contingent valuation method (CVM),the losses of environmental value of groundwater nitrate pollution sourced from a typical highyielding farmland,Huantai County,are evaluated.And the suitabilities of different methods for estimating the agriculture-related groundwater problems are analyzed.The precedence order of suitability is PEA by well-drilling project＞PEA by de-nitrate project≥HCA＞CVM.For the whole county in 2002,the loss of environmental value of groundwater nitrate pollution caused by farming is about 8.8 million yuan/year,ranging from 8.608 to 11.701 million yuan/year.This value accounts for 1.1%～1.5% of the gross agricultural production.