scholarly journals Comparing the Cost-Effectiveness of Water Conservation Policies in a Depleting Aquifer: A Dynamic Analysis of the Kansas High Plains

2012 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ya Ding ◽  
Jeffrey M. Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Technology Choice ◽  
Incentive Payment ◽  
Cost Share ◽  
Conservation Policies ◽  
Irrigation Water Use ◽  
The Cost

This research analyzes two groundwater conservation policies in the Kansas High Plains located within the Ogallala aquifer: 1) cost-share assistance to increase irrigation efficiency; and 2) incentive payments to convert irrigated crop production to dryland crop production. To compare the cost-effectiveness of these two policies, a dynamic model simulated a representative irrigator's optimal technology choice, crop selection, and irrigation water use over time. The results suggest that the overall water-saving effectiveness can be improved when different policy tools are considered under different conditions. High prevailing crop prices greatly reduce irrigators' incentive to give up irrigation and therefore cause low enrollment and ineffectiveness of the incentive payment program. In areas with low aquifer-saturated thickness, the incentive payment program is more effective, whereas in areas with relatively higher water availability, the cost-share program could be a better choice.

Irrigation water demand and implications for water pricing policy in rural China

2010 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-319 ◽  
Author(s):  
QIUQIONG HUANG ◽  
SCOTT ROZELLE ◽  
RICHARD HOWITT ◽  
JINXIA WANG ◽  
JIKUN HUANG
Keyword(s):  
Water Conservation ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Simulation Analysis ◽  
Rural China ◽  
Water Pricing ◽  
Pricing Policy ◽  
Water Savings ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Irrigation Water Demand ◽  
The Cost

ABSTRACTThe goal of this paper is to analyze whether reforming groundwater pricing has the potential to encourage water conservation and assess its impacts on crop production and producer income in rural China. Household-level water demands are estimated so that adjustments at both the intensive and extensive margins are captured. The results show that a large gap exists between the cost of water and the value of water to producers. Simulation analysis shows that reforming water pricing can induce water savings. However, the price of water needs to be raised to a relatively high level. We also find that the value-based policy is more effective than the cost-based policy since it generates larger water savings, given the same increase in the average price of water. While raising the price of water negatively affects crop production and crop income, higher water prices do not adversely affect the distribution of household income.

scholarly journals Effectiveness of Two Water Conservation Policies: An Integrated Modeling Approach

2010 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 695-710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Biswa R. Das ◽  
David B. Willis ◽  
Jeffrey Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Water Conservation ◽  
Water Policy ◽  
Economic Cost ◽  
High Plains ◽  
Economic Optimization ◽  
Policy Model ◽  
Conservation Policies ◽  
Texas High Plains ◽  
Policy Impacts ◽  
Regional Cost

Agriculture in the Texas High Plains depends entirely on the Ogallala Aquifer. Texas enacted water conservation legislation to address declining reserves in the aquifer. We developed an integrated regional water policy model that links a hydrology model with an economic optimization model to estimate policy impacts with respect to economic cost and water conservation. Testing the effectiveness of two policies, a groundwater extraction tax and extraction quotas, we observe that neither significantly inhibits groundwater use. Although both policies conserve similar amounts of groundwater, the regional cost of the tax policy to agriculture is more than the quota policy.

Economic benefits of soil and water conservation measures at the sub-catchment scale in the northern Highlands of Ethiopia

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hailu Kendie Addis ◽  
Atikilt Abera ◽  
Legese Abebaw
Keyword(s):  
Crop Yield ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Soil And Water Conservation ◽  
Nutrient Loss ◽  
Catchment Scale ◽  
Discounted Cost ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Soil And Water

Soil and water conservation (SWC) interventions are needed to control rainfall-driven erosion, and profitability of SWC measures at the sub-catchment scale emerges as the principal reason for their adoption. This study carried out a cost–benefit analysis of SWC measures in mountainous agricultural catchments. Physical data were obtained through field measurements of discharge, sediment and nutrient loss at the sub-catchment scale with and without SWC measures. The major cost benefits of various measures implemented in the study area were quantified using net present value (NPV), and direct market prices were employed in valuing the cost of items required for crop production. The results revealed that sediment loss decreased by 8.78 Mg ha−1 y−1 (46.8%) due to SWC measures, and the cost of production inputs, such as fertilizer (urea) and lime, was reduced by $17.97 ha−1 y−1 and $3.63 ha−1 y−1, respectively. Furthermore, crop yield was enhanced by 13% for teff, 19.4% for sorghum and 19.42% for chickpeas, which is equivalent to economic returns of $102, $96.9 and $140.25 ha−1 y−1, respectively. The total discounted cost of SWC interventions was about $331.74. This includes establishment costs, maintenance costs, input costs and the costs resulting from lost productive land. In sum, the total discounted benefits of SWC measures were the enhancement of crop production, a reduction in lime requirement and a reduction in the loss of total nitrogen and sediment, estimated at about $809.42. Hence, it is possible to deduce that SWC measures reduced nutrient depletion and greatly improved crop yield with a NPV of $477.68 ha−1. The results strongly suggest that SWC measures in the study sub-catchment, as well as in nearby areas with a similar indigenous SWC adoption strategy, topographic conditions and agroclimatic characteristics, should be maintained.

scholarly journals Costs of Capturing and Recycling Irrigation Water in Container Nurseries

HortScience ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 258-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathaniel Ferraro ◽  
Darrell Bosch ◽  
James Pease ◽  
James S. Owen
Keyword(s):  
Water Conservation ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Water Sources ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Well Water ◽  
Recycled Water ◽  
Partial Budgeting ◽  
Ornamental Horticulture ◽  
The Cost ◽  
On Farm

In the future, the U.S. ornamental horticulture industry may be faced with limited water resources and increased requirements to reduce pollution runoff from production areas. The concerns are most evident to outdoor, uncovered container crop production, which relies on daily irrigation. Capture of precipitation and irrigation runoff from ornamental horticulture nurseries to be recycled as irrigation could potentially generate cost savings relative to the cost of alternative water sources. Existing nurseries may incur large investment costs to modify their infrastructure for water capture to recycle. These added costs must be compared with costs of alternative sources such as off-farm municipal or on-farm well water. Using both existing case nurseries and simulated nurseries, this study employed partial budgeting for comparison of annual costs of recapture and recycling to the alternatives of either municipally delivered water or on-farm well extraction. On-site visits were conducted at mid-Atlantic ornamental horticulture operations that recycle water currently to gather data for constructing budgets and to determine factors that enhance or inhibit nursery adoption of recycling. The partial budgeting analysis was followed by breakeven analysis with regard to costs of regrading, pond excavation, and opportunity costs of land to isolate their effects on the nursery adoption decision. Six of eight case nurseries currently obtaining from 20% to 100% of their irrigation needs from recycled water achieve lower production costs as a result of recycling compared with using alternative municipal or well water sources. Recycling would also reduce pollution runoff as water containing nutrients and chemicals would be retained for reuse on the farm rather than being discharged to public water bodies. Two case nurseries and two simulated nurseries that were constructed based on average conditions for nurseries participating in a mail survey see higher production costs as a result of recycling. The cost of land regrading for water recapture, excavating the recapture pond, and the opportunity cost of production area occupied by the recapture pond are critical for determination of the least cost outcome. Public funding incentives for water collection and recycling could motivate increased water conservation and reduced pollution runoff within the horticulture industry.

scholarly journals An Evaluation of Irrigation Water Use Efficiency in Crop Production Using a Data Envelopment Analysis Approach: A Case of Louisiana, USA

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3193
Author(s):  
Tej K. Gautam ◽  
Krishna P. Paudel ◽  
Kurt M. Guidry
Keyword(s):  
Data Envelopment Analysis ◽  
Water Use ◽  
Irrigation Water ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
Crop Production ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Irrigation Efficiency ◽  
Data Envelopment ◽  
Irrigation Water Use

The primary objective of this study is to estimate and evaluate the technical efficiency of irrigation water use in soybean (Glycine max L.) production in Louisiana, USA. We conducted a farm-level survey to assess information regarding irrigation cost, the volume of water application, and crop yield per acre during the crop year 2016. We use smoothed heterogeneous bootstrapping procedures in conventional data envelopment analysis (DEA) and supplement it with a nonradial measure of efficiency known as the Russell measure. The irrigation efficiency scores obtained from both an input- and an output-based DEA approach indicate that producers are over-applying irrigation water by approximately 37 percent. The results provide evidence that an improvement in water management practices can optimize irrigation efficiency, leading to higher profits for the farmers by lowering the other input prices in the production process. The findings should provide a benchmarking tool to formulate an appropriate irrigation policy that enhances water conservation in crop production in regions with similar environmental conditions and soil characteristics.

The Cost-Effectiveness of Water Conservation

2001 ◽  
Vol 93 (3) ◽  
pp. 73-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Platt ◽  
Marie Cefalo Delforge
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Water Conservation ◽  
The Cost
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