IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wsi/wepxxx/v02y2016i03ns2382624x16500181.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Framework for Assessing the Effect of Irrigation Improvements: Economic Rivalry, Irrigation Abstraction, and Partition to Fates

Author

Listed:
  • Bryce A. Contor

    (Mirab Water Specialties LLC, PO Box 94, Iona, Idaho 83247, USA)

  • R. Garth Taylor

    (#x2020;Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Idaho, USA)

Abstract

Responsible application of finite resources to infinite needs means that proposals for irrigation improvement must be weighed and assessed. The assessment requires an understanding of the changes in flux, and the social, ecological and economic effect of such changes. This paper is focused on evaluation of changes in flux, not discounting the vital components of weighing the implications of the changes. A useful criterion for the assessment of the flux implications of improvements to irrigation efficiency is the net effect to basin water supplies. The flux assessment can be performed with four necessary and sufficient exercises: (1) Consider irrigator response to the change; (2) Close the water budget on all changes in flux resulting from the irrigator response; (3) Consider the economic rivalry effects of the changes in flux; (4) Quantify changes in supply to all affected participants. This paper focuses on the effect that these four factors have upon water flow, with the implicit assumption that flow impacts ecosystem services, private user benefits, and social equity. Knowledge of changes in flow is a necessary but not a sufficient input to the evaluation of these factors. Irrigator response can be assessed based on an assumption of rational profit-maximizing behavior, and on the legal and social bases of water use. Closing the water budget can be performed using methods found in an extensive literature describing evaporation, transpiration, irrigation requirements, irrigation efficiency, and the various fates of the non-consumed fraction of field-applied irrigation water. The physical effects of irrigation improvements can be further partitioned using the concepts of economic rivalry. The framework presented allows policy makers to evaluate the effects that improvements will have not only upon the improved water use and the new use to which “saved” water will be devoted, but also to the secondary effects and beyond, upon human uses or ecosystem services that currently rely upon the “waste” stream resulting from nominally inefficient application and use. While it is acknowledged that evaluation of ecosystem services requires greater knowledge of ecosystem functions than is available in many basins, at least this framework calls attention to the services and provides a quantification of the flux of water delivered to them.

Suggested Citation

  • Bryce A. Contor & R. Garth Taylor, 2016. "A Framework for Assessing the Effect of Irrigation Improvements: Economic Rivalry, Irrigation Abstraction, and Partition to Fates," Water Economics and Policy (WEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 2(03), pages 1-18, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:wsi:wepxxx:v:02:y:2016:i:03:n:s2382624x16500181
    DOI: 10.1142/S2382624X16500181
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.worldscientific.com/doi/abs/10.1142/S2382624X16500181
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1142/S2382624X16500181?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pfeiffer, Lisa & Lin, C.-Y. Cynthia, 2014. "Does efficient irrigation technology lead to reduced groundwater extraction? Empirical evidence," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 189-208.
    2. R. Garth Taylor & Robert D. Schmidt & Leroy Stodick & Bryce A. Contor, 2014. "Modeling Conjunctive Water Use as a Reciprocal Externality," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 96(3), pages 753-768.
    3. Luquet, Delphine & Vidal, Alain & Smith, Martin & Dauzat, Jean, 2005. "`More crop per drop': how to make it acceptable for farmers?," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 108-119, August.
    4. Scheierling, Susanne M. & Young, Robert A. & Cardon, Grant E., 2004. "Determining the Price-Responsiveness of Demands for Irrigation Water Deliveries versus Consumptive Use," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 29(2), pages 1-18, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mattoussi, Wided & Mattoussi, Foued & Larnaout, Afrah, 2023. "Optimal subsidization for the adoption of new irrigation technologies," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1126-1141.
    2. de Bonviller, Simon & Wheeler, Sarah Ann & Zuo, Alec, 2020. "The dynamics of groundwater markets: Price leadership and groundwater demand elasticity in the Murrumbidgee, Australia," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 239(C).
    3. Ji, Xinde & Cobourn, Kelly M. & Weng, Weizhe, 2018. "The Effect of Climate Change on Irrigated Agriculture: Water-Temperature Interactions and Adaptation in the Western U.S," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274306, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Scheierling, Susanne M. & Treguer, David O. & Booker, James F. & Decker, Elisabeth, 2014. "How to assess agricultural water productivity ? looking for water in the agricultural productivity and efficiency literature," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6982, The World Bank.
    5. Louis Sears & Joseph Caparelli & Clouse Lee & Devon Pan & Gillian Strandberg & Linh Vuu & C. -Y. Cynthia Lin Lawell, 2018. "Jevons’ Paradox and Efficient Irrigation Technology," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-12, May.
    6. Carlos Gómez & C. Pérez-Blanco, 2014. "Simple Myths and Basic Maths About Greening Irrigation," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 28(12), pages 4035-4044, September.
    7. Qian Chen & Jaume Freire González & Donglan Zha, 2023. "The Gap between Expectations and Reality: Assessing the Water Rebound Effect in Chinese Agriculture," Working Papers 1415, Barcelona School of Economics.
    8. Muchara, B. & Ortmann, G. & Mudhara, M. & Wale, E., 2016. "Irrigation water value for potato farmers in the Mooi River Irrigation Scheme of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: A residual value approach," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 164(P2), pages 243-252.
    9. Hrozencik, Aaron & Aillery, Marcel, 2021. "Trends in U.S. Irrigated Agriculture: Increasing Resilience Under Water Supply Scarcity," Economic Information Bulletin 327359, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    10. Suarez, Federico & Fulginiti, Lilyan & Perrin, Richard, 2015. "The Value of Water in Agriculture: The U.S. High Plains Aquifer," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 211644, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    11. Hang Xu & Rui Yang & Jianfeng Song, 2021. "Agricultural Water Use Efficiency and Rebound Effect: A Study for China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-16, July.
    12. Li, Haoyang & Zhao, Jinhua, 2018. "What Drives (No) Adoption of New Irrigation Technologies: A Structural Dynamic Estimation Approach," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274474, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    13. Smith, Steven M., 2018. "Economic incentives and conservation: Crowding-in social norms in a groundwater commons," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 147-174.
    14. Hrozencik, Aaron & Aillery, Marcel, 2021. "Trends in U.S. Irrigated Agriculture: Increasing Resilience Under Water Supply Scarcity," USDA Miscellaneous 316792, United States Department of Agriculture.
    15. Foster, T. & Brozović, N., 2018. "Simulating Crop-Water Production Functions Using Crop Growth Models to Support Water Policy Assessments," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 9-21.
    16. Dietrich Earnhart & Nathan P. Hendricks, 2023. "Adapting to water restrictions: Intensive versus extensive adaptation over time differentiated by water right seniority," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(5), pages 1458-1490, October.
    17. Abdelraouf R. E. & H. G. Ghanem & Najat A. Bukhari & Mohamed El-Zaidy, 2020. "Field and Modeling Study on Manual and Automatic Irrigation Scheduling under Deficit Irrigation of Greenhouse Cucumber," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-20, November.
    18. Scheierling, Susanne M., 2011. "Assessing the direct economic effects of reallocating irrigation water to alternative uses : concepts and an application," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5797, The World Bank.
    19. Jeong, Dawoon & Sesmero, Juan Pablo, 2021. "Do changing weather patterns warrant more flexibility in cap-and-trade policy for irrigation water conservation? A case study in Mexico," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 314081, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    20. Molden, David & Oweis, T. Y. & Pasquale, S. & Kijne, Jacob W. & Hanjra, M. A. & Bindraban, P. S. & Bouman, Bas A. M. & Cook, S. & Erenstein, O. & Farahani, H. & Hachum, A. & Hoogeveen, J. & Mahoo, Hen, 2007. "Pathways for increasing agricultural water productivity," Book Chapters,, International Water Management Institute.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wsi:wepxxx:v:02:y:2016:i:03:n:s2382624x16500181. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Tai Tone Lim (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.worldscinet.com/wep/wep.shtml .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.