1       CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

2       SUMMARY OF THE LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1    ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS AS A TOOL FOR POLITICAL DECISION MAKING

2.2    PECULIARITIES OF GROUNDWATER

2.3    THE COSTS OF GROUNDWATER PROTECTION AND REMEDIATION

2.3.1     Different cost categories of groundwater protection and remediation

2.3.2     The cost-efficiency of different protection instruments

2.3.3     Costs of Remediation

2.4    THE BENEFITS OF GROUNDWATER PROTECTION

2.4.1     Benefits estimated as Avoided Damage

2.4.2     Benefits estimated as Willingness to Pay

2.4.3     Indirect and Ecosystem Values

2.5    COMBINING COSTS AND BENEFITS

2.5.1     The role of economics in setting target values and defining policies

3       CASE STUDIES

3.1    CASE STUDY ON POTASH MINING FIELDS, ALSACE

3.1.1     The field site

3.1.2     Objective and methodology

3.1.3     Cost of groundwater protection and restoration measures

3.1.4     Technical efficiency of groundwater restoration measures

3.1.5     Costs and benefits of accelerated cleaning-up

3.1.6     The benefits of early action

3.2    CASE STUDY ON NITRATE AND PESTICIDE POLLUTION, ALSACE

3.2.1     The field site and objective of the case study

3.2.2     Methodology

3.2.3     The cost of groundwater pollution during the last 15 years

3.2.4     Looking at the future

3.3    CASE STUDY ON DIFFUSE AGRICULTURAL POLLUTION, DRASTRUP (DENMARK)

3.3.1     Methodological Objectives

3.3.2     The Drastrup project cost benefit analysis

3.3.3     Impact of an implementation delay on costs and benefits

3.3.4     Sensitivity to economic parameters

3.3.5     Sensitivity to the pollutant travelling time between the surface and the aquifer

3.3.6     Sensitivity to combined variation

3.3.7     Conclusion and implication

4       LESSONS LEARNT AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE GROUNDWATER DIRECTIVE

4.1    ALIMITED NUMBER OF EXISTING STUDIES

4.2    LIMITATIONS OF ECONOMICS AS A DECISION SUPPORT TOOL

4.3    IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FORMULATION OF THE GROUNDWATER DIRECTIVE

5       REFERENCES