It may not always be cost effective to measure the benefits from a program that are rare yet impactful. Reduction in saltwater intrusion was one of the key results of the program. In past years, saltwater intrusion has resulted in the need to shut down the water supply in Monrovia. This is a rare event but highly costly to the city and its citizens. Given that no saltwater intrusion event occurred during the timeframe of the evaluation, it was not possible to measure the effects of the pipeline on averting the negative impacts of these kinds of events. Future evaluations should explore ways to measure rare, yet impactful events that affect the benefits of the project.
Lesson Learned