Research on the Connotations and Assessment Methods of Water Resources Value: a Review

Against the backdrop of escalating global water resource supply-demand contradictions and urgent needs for sustainable development, this study proposes a three-dimensional framework for assessing water resource value, based on ecological threshold constraint, intergenerational contract fulfillment, and the principle of social justice. This framework overcomes the dual limitations of traditional evaluation models, which prioritize single economic dimensions and employ static accounting methods. The study evaluates the value of water resources across multiple dimensions, including ecological service functions, principles of intergenerational equity, and social and cultural values. It not only fills the theoretical gap in the dynamic response mechanisms for complex systems but also provides a “Chinese solution” for global water resource governance. This signifies a paradigm shift from resource-extraction-style utilization to value-symbiotic management for humans.