Author : Manlosa, Aisa O.

Summary : The sustainability of domestic water supply from the Layawan Watershed in Oroquieta City critically depends on the past and present conservation activities and the availability of funds from such stakeholders as households, communities, and government. This study determined the willingness to pay (WTP) of households in Oroquieta City to finance conservation projects in Layawan Watershed to ensure the sustainability of their domestic water supply. A household survey of randomly selected 278 respondents was conducted using the dichotomous choice referendum format. The results of the Heckman's two-stage analysis for the parametric estimation of mean WTP yielded the values of P 4.00, P 6.00 and P 7.00 per month for mandatory, voluntary and pooled data sets, respectively. The value of P4/month for the mandatory scheme indicates that each household is willing to pay this amount if all users are required to pay. The higher value of P 6/month for the voluntary payment means that the respondents favor this monthly payment scheme if the users contribute voluntarily. The pooled value of P 7/month is the combined figure from both mandatory and voluntary schemes. The households (as users of domestic water) are willing to contribute funds for conserving Layawan Watershed as supported by the total WTP of Oroquieta City's population that ranges from P 117,845 to P 471,380 in five years, discounted at 6%. Variables that significantly affected the WTP of the respondents are bid level, income, educational attainment, religion, agreement to payment vehicle, civil status, age, membership to an environmental organization, experience in making donations, and environmental awareness.