PRIMARY AND SECONDARY IMPACTS OF A WATER RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT1

ABSTRACT: At a time in history when water resource development in the United States is being condemned as both economically inefficient and an environmental disaster, perhaps economists need to look back at previous development to see what the fruits of water development (be they sweet or sour) have been. The Boise Project of south-western Idaho is 70 years old and to some people it represents a gross error in resource use, while to others it represents a means of livelihood and well being. A recent research project at the University of Idaho attempted to measure not only the direct economic income benefits of the project (from irrigation), but also the indirect or secondary income benefits (from the food processing industry). Periodic regional input-output tables were constructed to assess the income generated from irrigation and food processing over the period from 1946 to 1970. Input-output analysis allowed researchers to evaluate the direct and indirect impacts of both the irrigation sector and the food processing sector and to compare their growth over time.     

MEASURING THE CONTRIBUTION OF LAND AND WATER TO AGRICULTURE1

ABSTRACT Irrigated land outproduces dryland agriculture, especially in the western United States. Many valuable crops could not be grown without irrigation. A paucity of yield data does not allow direct measurement of the contribution from irrigated crop agriculture, nor does it allow evaluation of the contributions from livestock which are dependent upon irrigated feed. Regression results indicate that 80 percent of Idaho farm income is associated with irrigation, and that 75 percent of the farm income in the 17 western states is associated with irrigation. For the United States as a whole, results indicate that 13.7 percent of the total cropland (irrigated land) produced 41.3 percent of all cash receipts from farming in 1978. If 14 percent of the land can produce 40 percent of the value of production, can 35 percent of our land produce all our food and fiber needs? Such an allegation has several implications in terms of the adequacy of our land and water resources. It also emphasizes the role of technology in future resource use and production.     

ECONOMIC APPRAISAL OF A GROUND WATER DEVELOPMENT PROJECT1

A ground water development project in the northern part of Thailand was appraised by means of benefit-cost analysis. This is the first project in Thailand to develop ground water for irrigation purposes and it is also the first project which made use of an underground PVC pipe water distribution system. Results indicate that the project is economically feasible. In comparing different water distribution systems, it is also found that distribution by means of underground PVC pipes is more economical compared to an open ditch system if the life of the latter is relatively short and the rates of inflation are high.     

CLUSTER ANALYSIS AND WATER PROJECT EVALUATION1

Large-scale water projects have long been undertaken for the benefit of people. Information appears to be needed as to who benefits as a result of these projects. The hypothesis was tested that regional income and employment benefits would be closely related to areas where water projects were located. The analytical procedure centered on cluster analysis used to delineate counties in the Tennessee River Watershed on the basis of changes in selected variables over different periods. The hypothesis was rejected. It was concluded that benefits of water projects were not necessarily confined to isolated areas near projects but were regional.     

COST SHARING IN TRANSITION: THE CASE OF PLAN 6, CENTRAL ARIZONA PROJECT1

ABSTRACT: In the past, development of Federal water resource projects depended heavily or exclusively on Federal financing of construction costs. However, pressures on the Federal budget, environmental issues, and the notion that there are economic efficiency gains when beneficiaries of Federal water resource projects increase their cost share are causing changes. The case of the Central Arizona Project Plan 6 is a noteworthy example of the transition to more non-Federal participation in water resource development. This is because the non-Federal financing is to be provided for a project already under construction. The negotiation and terms of the Plan 6 financing agreement between the Department of the Interior and multiple interests in Arizona are used as an example of how Federal water project cost sharing is in a state of transition. The negotiation process is described, a financial analysis is provided, and the terms of the agreement and policy issues that were deliberated in the Executive Branch of the Federal Government are discussed.     

Wetland protection as land-use planning: The impact of section 404 in Wisconsin,USA

The ability of Section 404 of the Clean Water Act to act as an effective, efficient, and equitable land-use planning tool was assessed through a survey of Section 404 permits in Wisconsin. In a six-month period of permitting, the 404 program reduced wetland losses in the state by 15%. Several factors were examined that may affect permit decisions; these factors are water dependency, alternatives, project type, wetland type, and public or agency comments. Only the water dependency of the project had a statistically significant effect on permit decisions, although development projects that were perceived to provide public good were more likely to be permitted. Environmental impacts of a proposed fill project were not adequately assessed in any of the permit decisions. Because of the way Section 404 is interpreted and administered by the US Army Corps of Engineers, increasing net benefits and achieving an equitable distribution of those benefits is difficult. The corps does not perform any functional evaluations of wetlands nor do they attempt to measure economic value and environmental impacts. In addition, the 404 review process is, in effect, inaccessible to the public. The de facto interpretations of the Section 404 regulations and a lack of program funding and trained personnel all contribute to the program's ineffectiveness.     

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF OPTIMIZATION TECHNIQUES FOR IRRIGATION PROJECT PLANNING1

ABSTRACT: This study presents three optimization techniques for on‐farm irrigation scheduling in irrigation project planning: namely the genetic algorithm, simulated annealing and iterative improvement methods. The three techniques are applied to planning a 394.6 ha irrigation project in the town of Delta, Utah, for optimizing economic profits, simulating water demand, and estimating the crop area percentages with specific water supply and planted area constraints. The comparative optimization results for the 394.6 ha irrigated project from the genetic algorithm, simulated annealing, and iterative improvement methods are as follows: (1) the seasonal maximum net benefits are $113,826, $111,494, and $105,444 per season, respectively; and (2) the seasonal water demands are 3.03*10³ m³, 3.0*10³ m³, and 2.92*10³ m³ per season, respectively. This study also determined the most suitable four parameters of the genetic algorithm method for the Delta irrigated project to be: (1) the number of generations equals 800, (2) population size equals 50, (3) probability of crossover equals 0.6, and (4) probability of mutation equals 0.02. Meanwhile, the most suitable three parameters of simulated annealing method for the Delta irrigated project are: (1) initial temperature equals 1,000, (2) number of moves equal 90, and (3) cooling rate equals 0.95.     

Investments in agricultural water management for poverty reduction in Africa: Case studies of Limpopo,Nile, and Volta river basins

Much of Sub‐Saharan Africa is burdened with water scarcity and poverty. Continentally, less than four percent of Africa's renewable water resources are withdrawn for agriculture and other uses. Investments in agricultural water management can contribute in several ways to achieving the Millennium Development Goals of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger and ensuring environmental sustainability. Increased yield and cropping area and shifts to higher valued crops could help boost the income of rural households, generate more employment, and lower consumer food prices. These investments can also stabilize output, income and employment, and have favourable impacts on education, nutrition and health, and social equity. Investments in agricultural water management can cut poverty by uplifting the entitlements and transforming the opportunity structure for the poor. The overall role of investments in agricultural water management in eradicating hunger and poverty is analyzed. This paper contributes to the present debate and efforts to identify strategies and interventions that can effectively contribute to poverty reduction in Africa. It provides an overview of population growth, malnutrition, income distribution and poverty for countries in three case study river basins — Limpopo, Nile, and Volta. With discussions on the contribution of agriculture to national income and employment generation, the paper explores the linkages among water resources investments, agricultural growth, employment, and poverty alleviation. It examines the potential for expansion in irrigation for vertical and horizontal growth in agricultural productivity, via gains in yield and cropping area to boost the agricultural output. Factors constraining such potential, in terms of scarcity and degradation of land and water resources, and poor governance and weak institutions, are also outlined. The paper argues that increased investments in land and water resources and related rural infrastructure are a key pathway to enhance agricultural productivity and to catalyze agricultural and economic growth for effective poverty alleviation.     

Influence of farm resource endowment on possibilities for sustainable development: a case study for vegetable farms in South Uruguay

In different parts of the world, there is an urgent need for redesigning and innovating farming systems. Such a process may be supported by model-based explorations that enable ex-ante evaluation of a broad range of alternatives. Since a variety of viable patterns of farm development exists related to farm resource endowment and farmer's strategy, model-based explorations should be able to capture the existing variation in resource endowment and strategies in order to have impact on strategic farm management. In this paper, we present an overview of the model-based explorative method based on the MILP model Farm Images, applied to explore options for sustainable development of vegetable farms in Canelón Grande, Uruguay. The method is used to gain insight into the impact of current farm resource endowment on the possibilities for sustainable development and on the resource use efficiency at farm scale. We maximized farm income for 128 different farm types in an environment-oriented scenario and in an income-oriented scenario. Farm types were defined by combining 4 farm sizes, 2 labor endowments, 4 irrigation endowments, 2 soil quality combinations and 2 mechanization levels. The results demonstrate a strong impact of farm resource endowment on possibilities for sustainable development, as well as synergy between labor, land and irrigated area on resource-use efficiency at farm scale. Farms with 10ha of land or less, representing 47% of the farms in the Canelón Grande region, could only achieve a family income higher than the average income of Uruguayan families when the irrigated area was ca. 40% of the farm area. The achievement of environmental targets was less costly in terms of income on farms with a low rather than high labor availability per unit area and on farms with irrigation facilities.     

EFFECT OF WATER QUALITY STANDARDS ON FARM INCOME,RISK, AND NPS POLLUTION1

ABSTRACT: Enforceable standards play a crucial role in the design and implementation of most water quality policies. The impacts of these standards on farm income and nonpoint source (NPS) pollution can provide valuable information to develop economic policies that can improve water quality with minimal loss in income and minimal risk. This study uses an integration of nonlinear programming and a simulation model to assess the impacts of enforceable standards at technology and farm boundary levels. The results indicate that the type of pollutant regulated, enforcement type, and the level of standard had a significant impact on farm income and water quality. Choice of farm boundary standards over technology standards is dependent on the impact of the policy on other NPS pollutants, in addition to the reduction of nitrate and phosphorus pollutants. Enforcing farm boundary standards on nitrates had desirable effects on subsurface and percolate nitrogen and variance in income. Technology standards were uncertain in their effects because of the restriction on the choice of technologies available to farmers. A comparative policy analysis considering incentives, multiple impacts, transaction costs of implementation, and regional consideration is important to an effective policy design.     

THE POTENTIAL IMPACT OF WATER REALLOCATIONS ON AGRICULTURE IN IDAHO1

ABSTRACT: Economics is concerned with the allocation of resources between alternative uses. Traditionally, in the western United States, water resources have been committed to agriculture and irrigation. Other competitive uses such as power, industry, and recreation are challenging this allocation. What are the impacts of shifting water out of agriculture into other uses, is a question that needs to be given consideration. Ilia paper attempts to evaluate the tradeoff between using farm land for either irrigated or dryland production and the resulting impacts on gross farm income and the average price of land. Baaed on historical data, reducing irrigated acreage and increasing dryland acreage could greatly reduce both farm income and the equity in farming. The model presented in this paper should be useful for evaluating the tradeoffs between dryland and irrigated land use, especially when there are gat differences in productivity such as those that exist in the inter-mountain region of the Western United States.     

Evidence of the impacts of the national housing programme on the accessibility of the low‐income population in Rio de Janeiro

The Brazilian shift from a primarily rural to a more urban society has created major challenges that public policies must address. One of the most relevant challenges is deep social exclusion in urban areas, especially in terms of adequate housing and access to urban opportunities (e.g., jobs, housing, and services). In this context, land use and transport planning play a critical role in the sustainable development agenda. The work presented here analyses the accessibility of low‐income dwellings licenced under the Brazilian housing programme to the low‐income population. To evaluate the accessibility of the programme's target population, a case study was conducted in the city of Rio de Janeiro, where 58,000 homes licensed under the programme were analysed using GIS tools in terms of the present public transport network and the location of the homes. The amount of time it takes to access public transport on foot and the homes’ locations in relation to major urban opportunities were also analysed. Finally, the same analysis was performed for the future transport network, and the results of the two analyses were compared to identify the scope of the legacy generated by investments in preparation for the 2016 network.     

EMPHASIS ON DISTRIBUTION: STRATEGIES FOR SMALL SCALE WATER RESOURCES DEVELOPMENT IN THAILAND1

This paper discusses strategies for the development of water resources, emphasizing the delivery of reliable water supplies, for both domestic and production purposes, to every village and to every farmer. This necessitates a shift of emphasis from the construction of large storage reservoirs to the construction, operation, and maintenance of water distribution systems capable of reaching the largest number of farms, and a shift from projects that benefit the few, to projects that benefit the many. Water distribution in this context takes on three interrelated meanings: a geographical meaning, a technical meaning, and an economic meaning. The geographical meaning focuses on the spatial distribution of the recipient population as a key to identifying the proper distribution of water projects in physical space. The technical meaning relates to the physical distribution of water through canal systems to the farmers' fields. The economic meaning refers to the equitable distribution of benefits from water projects. The paper provides an illustration of the need for an emphasis on distribution, using the state of development of water resources in northeast Thailand as an example, with a proposed program for the further development of these resources. The northeast, the poorest region in the country, has been recognized by the Government of Thailand as a priority area for accelerated regional development efforts.     

CULTURAL ASPECTS OF WATER RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT PAST,PRESENT, AND FUTURE1

ABSTRACT Attitudes toward the development of the American West have undergone important changes over the past century just as the nature of water resources as factors in development have changed. Viewing these changes processually, stages for water resources definition and use can be identified in the total process of western cultural development. The first stage involves the value of water resource development as a stimulus to population and economic growth in the West. The second stage, still in process', adopts a dominant cultural norm which sees water resource development as inevitable if not necessary to keep up with growth. A third stage to this evolutionary process is incipient. Future cultural values and thinking with respect to water resource development will be to look at development as a means for controlling or managing both the location and quantity of population and economic growth. To this end planners will have to become concerned with the questions of human adaptation. Concern will have to be given to the problems of getting a living which enables individuals to meet the subsistence needs of self and family, to establishing community which provides for cooperation among individuals and the management of conflict, to establishing improved communication which promotes interpersonal interaction, and for fostering innovation which provides the new ideas necessary to adapt to new environmental situations.,     

Exploring trends, sources, and causes of environmental funding: a study of Florida counties

Florida is one of the largest spenders on the environment in the U.S. Employing a database from Florida counties, this study examines two distinct environmental funding areas in government: funding to protect the environment, and funding to develop the environment. These two types of funding serve different purposes, support different activities and operations, and draw from different revenue sources. The results show that environmental funding in government is a response to the environmental pressure generated by economic activities and population growth. Counties with a higher level of manufacturing and farming activity spend more to protect the environment, while counties with higher population densities spend more to develop the environment. Moreover, counties with more funding for public safety and economic development activities spend less on the environment, indicating that environmental funding is influenced by the political processes in public budgeting in which diversified interests compete for resources. These results show that environmental spending in government is the result of combined forces arising from environmental pressure and budgetary politics.     

County‐Scale Rainwater Harvesting Feasibility in the United States: Climate,Collection Area,Density, and Reuse Considerations

Roof rainwater harvesting (RWH) has the potential to augment water supplies for urban and suburban uses throughout the United States (U.S.). Studies of the performance of RWH at the building and city scales in the U.S. are available, but a countrywide overview of the potential performance of RWH at the county scale has not been done before. Three approaches were taken: (1) assess the viability of RWH in terms of the rainfall that could be captured in relation to the water demand in each county (excluding agriculture), (2) evaluate the performance of a “typical” domestic RWH system across all counties with metrics related to its ability to supply the potable and nonpotable demand, and (3) evaluate the effect of adding a 50% rainwater reuse component to the analysis. We find RWH could be a viable supplemental water source in the U.S., particularly in counties of the Pacific Northwest, Central, and Eastern regions (percent demand covered >50%). Low population density counties have the potential to meet their annual water needs with RWH, while high‐density counties could only source a small portion (~20%) of their annual demand with RWH. Typical RWH systems in counties in the Central and Eastern U.S. performed better than in Western counties. Adding a reuse component can be a key factor in making RWH attractive in many areas of the country. This work can inform future water infrastructure investment and planning in the U.S.     

A Dynamic Simulation Model of Land-Use, Population, and Rural Livelihoods in the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia

The dynamic interactions between society and land resources have to be taken into account when planning and managing natural resources. A computer model, using STELLA software, was developed through active participation of purposively selected farm households from different wealth groups, age groups and gender within a rural community and some members of Kebelle council. The aim of the modeling was to study the perceived changes in land-use, population and livelihoods over the next 30 years and to improve our understanding of the interactions among them. The modeling output is characterized by rapid population growth, declining farm size and household incomes, deteriorating woody vegetation cover and worsening land degradation if current conditions remain. However, through integrated intervention strategies (including forest increase, micro-finance, family planning, health and education) the woody vegetation cover is likely to increase in the landscape, population growth is likely to slow down and households’ income is likely to improve. A validation assessment of the simulation model based on historical data on land-use and population from 1973 to 2006 showed that the model is relatively robust. We conclude that as a supporting tool, the simulation model can contribute to the decision making process.     

Water Appropriation Systems for Adapting to Water Shortages in Iraq

Climate variability and population growth have intensified the search internationally for measures to adapt to fluctuations in water supplies. An example can be found in the lower part of the transboundary Tigris‐Euphrates Basin where water shortages in 2008‐2009 resulted in high economic costs to irrigation farmers. Losses to irrigators in the lower basin have made a compelling case to identify flexible methods to adapt to water shortage. Few published studies have systematically examined ways to enhance the flexibility of water appropriation systems to adapt to water shortage. This article addresses an ongoing challenge in water governance by examining how profitability at both the farm and basin levels is affected by various water appropriation systems. Four water appropriation systems are compared for impacts on farm income under each of three water supply scenarios. Results show that a (1) proportional sharing of water shortages among provinces and (2) unrestricted water trading rank as the top two appropriation systems. The shadow price of water for irrigation rises from zero at a full water supply level to US$93/1,000 m³ when supply falls to 20% of full levels. Similar methods could be used to analyze challenges facing the design or implementation of water appropriation systems in the world's irrigated regions.     

LOCAL ATTITUDES TOWARD ALTERNATIVE USES OF A RESERVOIR PROJECT1

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this paper is to examine the correlates of attitudes toward alternative uses which could have been made of public resources employed to construct a multipurpose reservoir. A sample of 303 adult residents of a rural community impacted by lake construction was asked to evaluate several alternative development options which could have been implemented in lieu of the lake project. The alternative options evaluated were: rural industrialization, keeping land in agriculture and forests, improving public services, building a state or national park, drilling water wells for urban water supply, aid to small business, helping poor people, building several smaller impoundments, and private recreation development. The findings revealed the local people preferred the lake project to every option except keeping the land in agriculture and forest. Even this option was not strongly supported when compared with the lake project. Socio-demographic, attitude, and cost assessment factors were investigated using a “vested interest” perspective for hypotheses development. These findings demonstrated that costs and benefits were relatively good predictors of attitudes toward alternative development options and were supportive of the theoretical perspective advanced in this paper.     

SOCIAL OVERHEAD CAPITAL COSTS OF IRRIGATION DEVELOPMENT IN WASHINGTON STATE1

ABSTRACT: Increased irrigation as a means of achieving economic development can impose significant social costs on the state or region of growth. The growth in population induced by additional irrigation will require new roads, water and sewage facilities, schools, fire and police protection, etc. Also the increased energy demands due to irrigation and growth in economic activity must be met. Capital investments required to service these needs of new development can become very large. This study attempts to measure such social overhead costs or irrigation development for some specific irrigation project areas of Eastern Washington. It is shown that investment costs in overhead items can reach $2,000 per acre irrigated or $70,000 per job created. Alternatively, the annual costs can equal $180 per acre or $6,700 per worker. These costs must be paid locally through increased taxes, utility rates, or costs for services.