W1190: Interfacing technological, economic, and institutional principles for managing inter-sector mobilization of water
Statement of Issues and Justification
Recent years have witnessed major changes in the technology, economics, and institutions that have a significant bearing on the ownership, allocation, and management of water in irrigated agriculture in the western United States. The resulting issues, the core of this research proposal, have had a particularly pronounced impact on the inter-sector mobilization of water.On the technological front, secondary salinization or salt accumulation from evaporating irrigation and shallow ground water has begun to assume alarming proportions. Because a vast majority of this irrigated land is located in the arid and semi-arid west, soil salinity issues have risen as critically important concerns associated with water-management policies of the western U.S. Specifically, as western water resources are reallocated, a widely recognized need exists for more rapid field/basin-scale salinity impact assessments.
On the economics front, two major issues that impact on the effective and efficient allocation of water among multiple uses and users have emerged to the forefront of the policy debate. First, a growing body of evidence indicates that water conservation acquired through traditional cost-share conservation programs such as those implemented by USDA, 74% of whose participants are small farms, will likely be insufficient to meet the needs of growing non-agricultural water demands, particularly for environmental purposes. Note that in this connection, nearly 81% of irrigated farms in the 17 western states are small farms, while large farms (farms with $250,000 or more in total farm sales) apply 66% of agricultural water. Clearly, the studies suggest that farm-size characteristics, economics, and institutions are central to the design of more effective federal and state water conservation policy. While traditional cost-share conservation policy likely contributes significantly to small farm policy goals, integrated conservation/institutional policy may have an even larger conservation/reallocation impact and provide for a more effective balance between small farm and environmental policy goals. Second, the historic method of reducing agricultural production risks through subsidized federal crop insurance (e.g. crop insurance and non-insured crop assistance provided by USDA) does not cover water shortfalls in irrigated agriculture. Even if federal crop insurance were extended to cover water-supply restrictions, it is an open question whether such a program could effectively mitigate the risks of reduced water supplies, because several concerns arise related to the feasibility, effectiveness, and participation level within such a program.
On the institutional front, there is widespread dissatisfaction with respect to the efficacy and effectiveness of the prevailing water allocation laws, institutions, and procedures to efficiently, equitably, and sustainably allocate water among the newly emerging water uses and users in the western U.S. Alternative institutional arrangements will need to account for the changing inter-sector values of water, while also satisfying public equity requirements.
The technological, economic, and institutional issues identified above have not been addressed in a comprehensive and systematic fashion, and in conjunction, in any previous regional research on western irrigated agriculture. It is well established that there are many complex interactions among technological, economic, and institutional factors, which have a decisive impact on inter-sector water mobilization. Therefore, a careful scrutiny of these issues becomes compelling. Our proposal is a first attempt to examine and analyze these key issues as a basis for developing effective and efficient policy for inter-sector water transfer in the western U.S.
The need for undertaking the proposed research becomes self-evident when we look at the myriad of stakeholders who stand to benefit from the resulting findings. These stakeholders include agricultural producers, irrigation and conservation districts, private water-supply organizations, state environmental/water quality management programs, federal agencies such as the Bureau of Reclamation, Army Corps of Engineers, USDA (NRCS and CSREES) and EPA, among others. The findings from the proposed research are expected to have a profound impact on these multiple stakeholders intimately involved in water allocation, planning and management decisions that affect western U.S. irrigated agriculture.
The proposed research has a high degree of technical feasibility. The research team consists of a multi-disciplinary group of water professionals with rigorous training in the conceptual-theoretical aspects of water economics and technology, as well as hands-on experience in policy analysis. The disciplines represented on the team include agricultural and natural resource economics, irrigation engineering, and agronomy and soil sciences, among others. Virtually all researchers have worked on collaborative, interdisciplinary projects. Researchers from 14 states are represented on the project. In addition, researchers from ERS and ARS of USDA, and the Bureau of Reclamation are involved in the proposed research.
The proposed research is ideally suited to be conducted as a multi-state regional project because of the commonality of the issues to be studied across the participating states. For instance, secondary salinization from evaporating irrigation is becoming increasingly common among the western states. Similarly, integration of water conservation with institutional changes, and knowledge of agricultural production risks associated with policy-induced water restrictions are rapidly emerging as issues of major concern to irrigated agriculture in practically all western states. Likewise, concerns about the efficacy and adequacy of current water laws, institutions and procedures in addressing the changing and challenging water needs of irrigated agriculture, and the need for efficient and equitable inter-sector mobilization of water are shared by most every state in the region. Thus, all three objectives of the proposed research address issues of common concern and as a result, the proposed research clearly meets the criteria for regional research.
From a project perspective, the likely impacts from the successful completion of the proposed research include:
1. Develop a system for the rapid monitoring and assessment of farm and basin-scale soil and water salinity impacts associated with policy-induced water management practices, water transfer agreements, and interstate river-compact decisions. 2. Provide critical conservation and economic information, across farm-size groups, needed to more effectively balance conservation needs between small farm and environmental policy goals. 3. Provide information on the potential agricultural risks and income losses associated with irrigation water shortfalls due to Federal and State policy decisions, as well as the impact of potential mitigation strategies. 4. Establish a solid body of systematic information on the actual performance of current laws, institutions, and procedures in meeting existing and emerging water demands, and the likelihood of institutional modifications to improve inter-sector water mobilization across the western U.S.
Because of these anticipated benefits, the proposed research is of crucial importance to effective water policy formulation and implementation across the western U.S.
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