Teaching and Research Interests
Dr. Colby's research is in natural resource and environmental economics and in public policy, and in particular, water resource economics. Some of her current projects involve nonmarket valuation of natural amenities, analyzing transactions costs generated by regulatory policies, evaluating the reallocation of water resources among economic sectors, economic tools to resolve environmental conflicts, and identifying strategies to promote efficient allocation of risk associated with variability in water supply and water quality.

Curriculum Vitae

Awards and Honors
Distinguished Scholar Award, WAEA
Oustanding Research Scientist Award, CALS, University of Arizona
Outstanding Publication Award, National Academy of Sciences
Best Published Research Award, WAEA

Classes Taught
AREC 479, Economics of Water Management and Policy
AREC 575, Economic Evaluation of Water and Environmental Policy

Water Transaction Guidebooks for Water Professionals and Stakeholders (2009–13)

• Water Auction Design for Supply Reliability: Design, Implementation, and Evaluation

• Water Banks: A Tool for Enhancing Water Supply Reliability

• Dry-Year Water Supply Reliability Contracts: A Tool for Water Managers

• Understanding the Value of Water in Agriculture: Tools for Negotiating Water Transfers
(Spanish language version/versión en español: Entendiendo el Valor del Agua en la Agricultura: Herramientas para Negociar Intercambios de Agua)

• Measuring, Monitoring, and Enforcing Temporary Water Transfers: Considerations, Case Examples, Innovations and Costs (higher quality 4.6 MB file, lower quality 1 MB file)

• Valuing Recreation and Envrionmental Flows in the Colorado River Delta Utilizing the Contingent Valuation

• Prioritizing Environmental Water Acquisitions: Making the Most of Program Budgets

• Farm Adaptation to Water Supply Variability: Opportunities in the colorado River Delta

Selected Publications
• Colby, B.and G. Frisvold. Risk and Resilience: The Economics Of Climate-Water-Energy Challenges In The Arid Southwest, Resources for the Future Press, forthcoming, 2010.

• Colby, B. and R. Bark. “Chapter 41: Inter-sectoral Water Trading as a Climate Change Adaptation Strategy,” in Water Resources Planning and Management, edited by Q. Grafton and K. Hussey, Cambridge University Press, 2009.

• Colby, B. and J Pullen. “Influence of Climate Variability on the Market Price of Water in the Gila-San Francisco Basin.” Journal of Agric. and Resource Economics, 2008.

• Colby, B.G., J. Thosser, and S. Britton, Negotiating Tribal Water Rights: Fulfilling Promises in the Arid West. University of Arizona Press, 2005.

• Colby, Bonnie G. "Economics of Urban Water Demand and Supply." In Managing Urban Water Demand, N. Buras, ed. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2002.

• T.P. D'Estree and B.G. Colby, Braving the Curents: Resolving Conflicts Over the Water of the American West, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003.

• Colby, Bonnie G. "Cap-and-Trade Policy Challenges! A Tale of Three Markets." Land Economics, 76(4):638-658, 2000.

• Colby, B.G. "Negotiated Transactions as a Conflict Resolution Mechanism: Bargaining over Water in the American West" in Markets for Water—Potential and Performance. M. Rosegrant, A. Dinar, and W.K. Easter, eds. Boston: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1998.

• Kirchhoff, Stefanie, Bonnie G. Colby, and Jeffrey T. LaFrance. "Evaluating the Performance of Benefit Transfer: An Empirical Inquiry." Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 33:75-93, 1997.

• Colby, B.G. "Markets as a Response to Water Scarcity: Policy Challenges and Economic Implications." In Advances in the Economics of Environmental Resources. D. Hall, ed. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, pp. 211-232, 1997.