Effects of Flow Augmentations in the Snake River Basin on Farms Profitability1 |
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| Authors: | Genevieve Briand Eric C Schuck David W Holland |
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| Institution: | 1. Respectively, Assistant Professor, Economics Department, Eastern Washington University, 300 Patterson Hall, Cheney, Washington 99004‐2429;2. Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Colorado State University, B‐334 Clark Hall, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523;3. Professor, School of Economic Sciences, Washington State University, P.O. Box 646210, Pullman, Washington 99164‐6210 |
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| Abstract: | Abstract: For over 10 years, several species of salmon have been identified as either threatened or endangered in the Snake River Basin of Idaho. The United States Bureau of Reclamation, in cooperation with the National Marine Fisheries Service, has proposed a variety of plans to increase stream flows in the Snake River Basin to facilitate movement by juvenile salmon smolts to the ocean. This research examines two of the flow augmentation plans proposed by the Bureau of Reclamation as well as two alternative plans, one founded purely on existing priority‐based water rights and another geared toward minimizing the effects of flow augmentations on farms profitability. Results from a basin‐wide model of agricultural production in the Snake River Basin, the Snake River Agricultural Model, present evidence that (1) older water rights are used towards production of less valuable crops, (2) flow augmentation scenarios have unequal effects on farms profitability across agricultural regions within the basin, and (3) irrigation water is valued from US$4 to US$59 an acre‐foot. |
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| Keywords: | water policy irrigated farms profitability flow augmentation scenarios simulation water allocation value of water |
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