Effectiveness of Two Water Conservation Policies: An Integrated Modeling Approach

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.

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The Impact and Value of Accurate Evapotranspiration Networks in Texas High Plains Production Agriculture

Applied Engineering in Agriculture ◽

10.13031/aea.13913 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 36 (4) ◽

pp. 451-455

Author(s):

Thomas Henry Marek ◽

Dana Porter ◽

Terry A. Howell ◽

Gary W. Marek ◽

David Brauer

Keyword(s):

Water Conservation ◽

Public Awareness ◽

Irrigation Management ◽

Irrigation Scheduling ◽

Management Tool ◽

High Plains ◽

Network Data ◽

List Type ◽

Texas High Plains ◽

The Impact

Highlights Irrigation scheduling using accurate ET network data can conserve energy and water. ET networks can be a valuable, cost effective, and feasible management tool in water policy. The Texas High Plains ET Network saved irrigated producers an estimated $US 22M dollars annually. ET network benefits and use extend beyond the agricultural sector. Abstract . Evapotranspiration (ET) networks have been developed and used to support weather and related ET information needs of U.S. agricultural production for nearly half a century, but many networks have been affected by inherent problems associated with sustaining operations. Consequently, these challenges have led to the discontinuation of network service in many cases. Most ET networks have been impacted by inadequate financial support compounded by inadequate public awareness and understanding of their usefulness and value in irrigation management, water conservation and water planning, and policy activities. Data accuracy is vital to usefulness, yet network data quality is often degraded when limited resources result in reduced equipment maintenance and data QA/QC. A discussion of ET network requirements and associated costs is presented. Estimates of the value and pumping reduction using the Texas High Plains ET networks are presented documenting the improvements of crop water use estimates and the impact associated with these improvements on irrigation groundwater withdrawal. Keywords: ET network, Evapotranspiration network, Irrigation scheduling, Irrigation value, Water management tools, Water savings.

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Relationships Between Early Wheat Streak Mosaic Severity Levels and Grain Yield: Implications for Management Decisions

Plant Disease ◽

10.1094/pdis-02-17-0176-re ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 101 (9) ◽

pp. 1621-1626 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

F. Workneh ◽

S. O’Shaughnessy ◽

S. Evett ◽

C. M. Rush

Keyword(s):

Grain Yield ◽

Disease Severity ◽

Water Conservation ◽

Field Experiments ◽

Regression Function ◽

High Plains ◽

Management Decisions ◽

Texas High Plains ◽

Severity Levels ◽

The Impact

Wheat streak mosaic (WSM) caused by Wheat streak mosaic virus, which is transmitted by the wheat curl mite (Aceria tosichella), is a major yield-limiting disease in the Texas High Plains. In addition to its impact on grain production, the disease reduces water-use efficiency by affecting root development. Because of the declining Ogallala Aquifer water level, water conservation has become one of the major pressing issues in the region. Thus, questions are often raised as to whether it is worthwhile to irrigate infected fields in light of the water conservation issues, associated energy costs, and current wheat prices. To address some of these questions, field experiments were conducted in 2013 and 2016 at two separate locations to determine whether grain yield could be predicted from disease severity levels, assessed early in the spring, for potential use as a decision tool for crop management, including irrigation. In both fields, disease severity assessments started in April, using a handheld hyperspectral radiometer with which reflectance measurements were taken weekly in multiple plots in arbitrarily selected locations across the fields. The relationship between WSM severity levels and grain yield for the different assessment dates were determined by fitting reflectance and yield values into the logistic regression function. The model predicted yield levels with r2 values ranging from 0.67 to 0.85 (P < 0.0001), indicating that the impact of WSM on grain yield could be fairly well predicted from early assessments of WSM severity levels. As the disease is normally progressive over time, this type of information will be useful for making management decisions of whether to continue irrigating infected fields, especially if combined with an economic threshold for WSM severity levels.

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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 ◽

10.1017/s1074070800000286 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 44 (2) ◽

pp. 223-234 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

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.

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