IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/saea16/229904.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Will Farmers Save Water? A Theoretical Analysis of Groundwater Conservation Policies for Ogallala Aquifer

Author

Listed:
  • Wang, Tong
  • Park, Seong
  • Jin, Hailong

Abstract

A variety of water conservation policy alternatives have been promoted to extend the economic life of Ogallala Aquifer in the Southern Great Plains. However, few studies have been done to analyze whether these policies provide profit-driven farmers with incentives to save water. In this paper we adopt a theoretical approach to analyze farmer’s optimal response when facing following policy alternatives, including 1) irrigation technology subsidy, 2) increased water cost, 3) unit subsidies for water saving; and 4) subsidies on water-conservative crop. Our findings suggest that optimal water conservation policies vary by region. Specifically, the switching to higher efficiency technology should occur in a preventative stage for the water saving to occur. Similarly, an increase in water cost promotes water saving only when water resource is relatively abundant. In regions where groundwater already poses a constraint, the unit subsidy for actual water saved and price subsidy for water-conservative crops are more effective in achieving the water conservation goal.

Suggested Citation

  • Wang, Tong & Park, Seong & Jin, Hailong, 2016. "Will Farmers Save Water? A Theoretical Analysis of Groundwater Conservation Policies for Ogallala Aquifer," 2016 Annual Meeting, February 6-9, 2016, San Antonio, Texas 229904, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
  • Handle: RePEc:ags:saea16:229904
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.229904
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/229904/files/WaterPolicySAEA.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.229904?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wheeler, Erin & Golden, Bill & Johnson, Jeffrey & Peterson, Jeffrey, 2008. "Economic Efficiency of Short-Term Versus Long-Term Water Rights Buyouts," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 40(2), pages 493-501, August.
    2. Minjun Shi & Xiaojun Wang & Hong Yang & Tao Wang, 2014. "Pricing or Quota? A Solution to Water Scarcity in Oasis Regions in China: A Case Study in the Heihe River Basin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(11), pages 1-20, October.
    3. Hendricks, Nathan P. & Peterson, Jeffrey M., 2012. "Fixed Effects Estimation of the Intensive and Extensive Margins of Irrigation Water Demand," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 37(1), pages 1-19, April.
    4. 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.
    5. Jeffrey M. Peterson & Ya Ding, 2005. "Economic Adjustments to Groundwater Depletion in the High Plains: Do Water-Saving Irrigation Systems Save Water?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 87(1), pages 147-159.
    6. Richard Hornbeck & Pinar Keskin, 2014. "The Historically Evolving Impact of the Ogallala Aquifer: Agricultural Adaptation to Groundwater and Drought," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(1), pages 190-219, January.
    7. Margriet F. Caswell & David Zilberman, 1986. "The Effects of Well Depth and Land Quality on the Choice of Irrigation Technology," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 68(4), pages 798-811.
    8. Rosegrant, Mark W. & Schleyer, Renato Gazmuri & Yadav, Satya N., 1995. "Water policy for efficient agricultural diversification: market-based approaches," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 203-223, June.
    9. Michael R. Moore & Noel R. Gollehon & Marc B. Carey, 1994. "Multicrop Production Decisions in Western Irrigated Agriculture: The Role of Water Price," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 76(4), pages 859-874.
    10. Eli Feinerman & Keith C. Knapp, 1983. "Benefits from Groundwater Management: Magnitude, Sensitivity, and Distribution," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 65(4), pages 703-710.
    11. Huang, Qiuqiong & Rozelle, Scott & Howitt, Richard & Wang, Jinxia & Huang, Jikun, 2010. "Irrigation water demand and implications for water pricing policy in rural China," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(3), pages 293-319, June.
    12. Wheeler, Erin A. & Segarra, Eduardo & Johnson, Phillip N. & Johnson, Jeffrey W. & Willis, David B., 2006. "Policy Alternatives for the Southern Ogallala Aquifer," 2006 Annual Meeting, February 5-8, 2006, Orlando, Florida 35269, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    13. Lisa Pfeiffer & C.-Y. Cynthia Lin, 2014. "The Effects of Energy Prices on Agricultural Groundwater Extraction from the High Plains Aquifer," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1349-1362.
    14. repec:ags:jrapmc:122312 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. 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.
    2. Xie, Yang & Zilberman, David, 2015. "Water Storage Capacities versus Water Use Efficiency: Substitutes or Complements?," 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California 205439, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. 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.
    4. Bertone Oehninger, Ernst & Lin Lawell, C.-Y. Cynthia, 2021. "Property rights and groundwater management in the High Plains Aquifer," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    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. Nicolas E. Quintana Ashwell & Jeffrey M. Peterson, 2016. "The Impact of Irrigation Capital Subsidies on Common-Pool Groundwater Use and Depletion: Results for Western Kansas," Water Economics and Policy (WEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 2(03), pages 1-22, September.
    7. Feike, Til & Henseler, Martin, 2017. "Multiple Policy Instruments for Sustainable Water Management in Crop Production - A Modeling Study for the Chinese Aksu-Tarim Region," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 42-54.
    8. Ding, Ya & Peterson, Jeffrey M., 2012. "Comparing the Cost-Effectiveness of Water Conservation Policies in a Depleting Aquifer: A Dynamic Analysis of the Kansas High Plains," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Southern Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 44(2), pages 1-12, May.
    9. Li, Haoyang & Zhao, Jinhua, 2016. "Rebound Effect of Irrigation Technologies? The Role of Water Rights," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235966, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    10. Drysdale, Krystal M. & Hendricks, Nathan P., 2018. "Adaptation to an irrigation water restriction imposed through local governance," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 150-165.
    11. Lee, Juhee & Hendricks, Nathan, 2022. "Irrigation Decisions in Response to Groundwater Salinity in Kansas," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 47(3), September.
    12. Shew, Aaron M. & Nalley, Lawton L. & Durand-Morat, Alvaro & Meredith, Kylie & Parajuli, Ranjan & Thoma, Greg & Henry, Christopher G., 2021. "Holistically valuing public investments in agricultural water conservation," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 252(C).
    13. Xie, Yang & Zilberman, David, 2014. "The Economics of Water Project Capacities and Conservation Technologies," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 169820, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    14. 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.
    15. Perez-Quesada, Gabriela & Hendricks, Nathan P. & Steward, David R., 2020. "Quantifying the economic costs of High Plains Aquifer depletion," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304225, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    16. Sampson, Gabriel S. & Al-Sudani, Amer & Bergtold, Jason, 2021. "Local irrigation response to ethanol expansion in the High Plains Aquifer," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    17. George Frisvold & Charles Sanchez & Noel Gollehon & Sharon B. Megdal & Paul Brown, 2018. "Evaluating Gravity-Flow Irrigation with Lessons from Yuma, Arizona, USA," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-27, May.
    18. Bertone Oehninger, Ernst & Lin Lawell, C.-Y. Cynthia & Sanchirico, James & Springborn, Michael, 2016. "The effects of climate change on groundwater extraction for agriculture and land-use change," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235724, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    19. 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.
    20. Olen, Beau & Wu, JunJie & Langpap, Christian, 2012. "Crop-specific Irrigation Choices for Major Crops on the West Coast: Water Scarcity and Climatic Determinants," 2012 Annual Meeting, August 12-14, 2012, Seattle, Washington 124843, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Environmental Economics and Policy; Farm Management; Production Economics; Resource /Energy Economics and Policy;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ags:saea16:229904. 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: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/saeaaea.html .

    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.