Residents\' Willingness-to-Pay (WTP) for Preservation of Valasht Lake of Chalous City by Using One-and-One-Half-Bound Dichotomous Choice Contingent Valuation Method

In this study, residents' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for preservation of Valasht lake of Chalous city is estimated by using one-and-one-half-bound dichotomous choice contingent valuation method. WTP was measured by using logit model and Maximum Likelihood (ML) parameters estimation method. The results show that 67 percent of the housholds willingness to pay for preservation of Valasht lake. The average monthly WTP of each household is 26175 Rials. Total annual preservation value of this lake is estimated close to 6994 million Rials. According to the result of regression model, the offer amounts, households' income, satisfaction of water quality and education level of household head are the most important factors affecting households' WTP.