This bibliography lists 71 articles on water allocation as it relates to drought and water shortages dated 1992 - 1999. Competition for water resources, legal rights and remedies, and economic options are highlighted. All articles are from the AGRICOLA database.
This electronic bibliography is intended primarily to provide awareness of recent investigations and discussions of a topic and is not intended to be in-depth and exhaustive. The inclusion or omission of a particular publication or citation should not be construed as endorsement or disapproval. Citations are arranged alphabetically by title and abstracts are included where available. All citations are in English unless otherwise noted.
Send suggestions for electronic bibliographies related to water resources and agriculture to wqic@nal.usda.gov.
To locate a publication cited in this bibliography, please contact your local, state, or university library. If you are unable to locate a particular publication, your library can contact the National Agricultural Library (please see "Document Delivery Services" at http://www.nal.usda.gov/ddsb/).
Descriptors: agricultural-development, crop-production, drained-conditions, agricultural-land, muck-soils, environmental-impact, drainage-water, natural-grasslands, swamps, aquatic-environment, water-pollution runoff, phosphorus, eutrophication , water-flow, irrigation, flood-control, water allocation, agricultural-policy, environmental-legislation, water-quality, natural-history, Florida, best-management-practices.
Descriptors: irrigation-systems, irrigation-water, water-use, surface-water, groundwater, simulation-models, optimization, case-studies, water allocation, Argentina.
Descriptors: river-water, irrigation, irrigation-water, water-reservoirs, watersheds, stream-flow, water allocation, water-use, efficiency yields, simulation-models, Virginia, riparian-irrigation, water-rights, water-trades.
Abstract: In Virginia, as in many states, priority to streamflow is held by riparian landowners who are predominantly agricultural users. The streamflow may also have a high potential value to nonagricultural users who do not have riparian
rights. The potential benefits of transferring streamflow priority rights from agricultural to non-agricultural use were evaluated using simulation for an eastern Virginia watershed. Lowering irrigators' priority to streamflow reduced crop yields and irr
igated returns in some years because of inadequate water supplies. However, the transfer of priorities increased the likelihood that the urban reservoir would be able to withdraw water from the stream without interruption. As a result, priority trades red
uced the size of reservoir needed to meet a given water requirement by municipal users. The resulting savings in reservoir construction and maintenance costs more than offset the losses to irrigators. Net savings could be achieved even if the reservoir we
re required to release water periodically to maintain a minimum level of instream flow. The conclusion is that the state should encourage trading of access to streamflow in order to increase the use efficiency of streamflows. Alternative means by which th
e state can facilitate water exchanges are discussed.
Descriptors: water allocation, water-flow, California.
Descriptors: water-policy, law, water-systems water-use, rivers, water allocation, Montana, prior-appropriation-doctrine, Missouri-river.
Descriptors: irrigation-systems, design, water allocation, land-use, Pakistan.
Descriptors: water-use, rural-urban-relations, water allocation, New Mexico.
Descriptors: water-resources, water-policy, water allocation, water-management.
Descriptors: water allocation, water-use, right-of-access contracts, law, courts, decision-making, land-ownership, New Mexico.
Descriptors: water-resources, water-policy, water-use, water allocation, water-management, water-costs, market-transfer, market-transfer-of-water, water-law, water-rights.
Abstract: Efficient resource use is increasingly central to the economic well being of individual regions and countries. Institutional arrangements set the ground rules for resource use. At best, institutions facilitate achievement of econ
omic and social goals. At worst, they establish impediments to efficient resource use and significant resources must be expended by individuals to compensate for their obsolete or poor design. In general, efficient water use requires a secure and flexible
system of water rights. In the first regard, the peculiar physical characteristics of water resources pose special challenges for institutional design. Water resources are prone to market failures that must be addressed by institutions in order to yield
efficient allocation and use. A section of the paper is devoted to presenting institutional approaches to establishing security in water use. Proportionality, prioritized rights and licenses are discussed in terms of their advantages and disadvantages. Co
ncerning flexibility, water allocations must change in response to changing physical and economic circumstances. In the context of drought, administrative rationing, priority and drought water options are analyzed. For demand based transfers, a full range
of institutional options are considered, from a complete ban on transfers to no restriction, including market and administratively based transfers. The special issues of infrastructure, transactions costs, and secondary impacts are also discussed. Finall
y, conclusions are drawn concerning how the mix of institutional arrangements affects incentives guiding water use.
Descriptors: water allocation, water-use, decision-making philosophy, attitudes, perception, case-studies, New-south-wales, Victoria, western-australia, tasmania, equitable-water allocation.
Abstract: Five water allocation case studies were examined from four states in Australia. Issues varied from allocation between irrigators to that of 12 competing uses. The attitudinal and philosophical determinants of the fairness of the
decision making for case studies separately and collectively were determined for a water-literate community. Agreement with general philosophical attitudes, rated importance of philosophical principles in decision making in each case study, and attitudes
towards localized issues could, in combination, clearly discriminate people's differential perceptions of the fairness. It was also found that there was consistency in the importance placed on philosophical principles across the case studies. These princi
ples can be used as a basis for empirical community evaluation of the fairness of decision making in water allocation.
Descriptors: groundwater, water allocation, state-government firms, administration, water-policy. social-welfare law, New Mexico.
Descriptors: water-use, irrigation-water, trading, water allocation, cost-benefit-analysis, distribution, landowners, tenants, local-government administration, water-policy, California.
Descriptors: water allocation, drought, state-government law, winter, water-supply, agriculture, urban-areas, California.
Descriptors: aquifers, irrigation, drought, water allocation, irrigated-farming deficiency, payments, water-policy, water-use, cost-analysis, stream-flow, Texas, edwards-aquifer.
Descriptors: water allocation, resource-allocation, game-theory, cooperation, economic-analysis, social-accounting, politics, probability, mathematical-models, scarce-resources, water-transfers, coalition-formation, political-accounting-system s.
Descriptors: water-resources, economic-situation, degradation, sustainability, cost-benefit-analysis, water-conservation,, water allocation, infrastructure, structural-change, Latin America.
Descriptors: irrigated-farming, irrigation-scheduling, irrigation-requirements, water-costs, incentives, drainage-water volume, water-quality, water allocation, irrigation-equipment, prices, price-policy loans, field-crops, vegetables, Califor nia, low-interest-loans, irrigation-depth, tiered-water-pricing.
Descriptors: irrigation-water, water allocation, law, water-policy, water-resources, trade, legal-rights, irrigated-farming, water-use, Mexico, market-oriented-water-policy.
Descriptors: irrigated-farming, irrigation, farmers, organizations, farmers'-associations, irrigation-water, irrigation-scheduling, farmers'-attitudes, participation, water-policy, water allocation, Philippines, Sri-lanka, Pakistan, Senegal, M exico, western-states-of-usa, water-use, Columbia-basin-area-of-usa.
Descriptors: water-resources, water-conservation, water allocation, water-supply, reclamation, western-states-of-usa.
Descriptors: rivers, water-resources, uncertainty, institution-building, water allocation, international cooperation, Mexico, USA.
Descriptors: water-policy, state-government, water-conservation,, water-distribution, water-costs, water allocation, cost-benefit-analysis, Wyoming.
Descriptors: salmon, rivers, seasonal-migration, water-use, irrigation, public-utilities, water-allocation, markets, feasibility, water-policy, law, Idaho, hydropower-utilities.
Descriptors: irrigation-water, water allocation, irrigation-scheduling, crop-production, plant-competition, maize, dynamic-programming, maize, sorghum, cotton, simulation-models, seasonal-growth, Texas.
Abstract: A dynamic programming model that allocates irrigations among competing crops, while allowing for stochastic weather patterns and temporary or permanent abandonment of one crop in dry periods, is presented. Fifteen intraseaso
nal irrigations are allocated between corn and sorghum fields on the southern Texas High Plains. Broad rules of thumb implied by the results suggest irrigating the driest field in any stage unless soil water is close to field capacity on both fields o
r below wilting point on corn. A crop simulation model is used to reduce the complicated decision rules into simpler strategies with similar net returns.
Descriptors: irrigation-systems, irrigation-requirements, water-supply, irrigation-scheduling, water-allocation, simulation-models, multiple-field-multi-crop-irrigation-systems.
Descriptors: irrigation, management, organizations, water allocation, farmers'-associations, irrigation-water, irrigation-scheduling, water-policy, water-management, water-use, water-rights.
Descriptors: water-resources, water-policy, water-management, irrigation, water allocation, law, irrigation-water, legal-rights, Argentina, water-law, water-rights.
Descriptors: irrigation-water, irrigation-channels, groundwater-extraction wells, surface-water, groundwater, irrigated-farming, water allocation, crop-production, water-costs, water-resources, markets, water-use, Pakistan-punjab, water-transa ctions.
Descriptors: water-management, drought, floods, semiarid-zones, water-conservation, water-use, water allocation.
Descriptors: water-resources, fishery-resources, lakes, resource-management, water allocation, water-use, water-management,, fishery-management, history, Nevada.
Descriptors: river-water, rivers, stream-flow, water allocation, summer, water-recreation, floating, tourists, expenditure, visitors, measurement, simulation, economic-impact, economic-analysis, econometric-models, New Mexico, whitewater-rafti
ng, Rio Grande.
Abstract: Because of large upstream diversions for agriculture and an absence of policies to protect in-stream flows, flows in the Rio Grande near Taos, New Mexico, routinely are low by midsummer. The reach is a popular whitewater run in t
he southwestern United States when flows are adequate for river running. This article estimates the regional economic impacts attributable to summer streamflow depletions. Economic analysis indicates that while lower water levels affect the number of peop
le coming to the region to raft on one river reach, low water levels had no effect on another nearby rafting area. Total expenditures and economic impacts were simulated for streamflows maintained at levels adequate for whitewater recreation throughout th
e summer season. These simulations indicate a 24% ($0.74 million) increase in rafting-linked expenditures and a 25% ($0.94 million) increase in value added from rafting, compared to actual 1992 expenditures and value added.
Descriptors: water allocation, water-resources, cost-benefit-analysis, environmental-impact, externalities, property-transfers, water-use, conflict, Nevada, voluntary-transfers, involuntary-transfers.
Descriptors: water allocation, water-policy, decision-making, cooperation, California.
Descriptors: drought, water allocation, statistical-data models.
Descriptors: water-resources, water allocation, trade-agreements, water-policy, water-use, water-management, USA, Mexico, North-american-free-trade-agreement, nafta.
Descriptors: desertification, human-activity, environmental-degradation, salinization, grazing-effects, overgrazing, irrigation, irrigated-farming, water allocation, water-deprivation, water-deficit, erosion, dry-conditions, UNEP, USSR, anthro pogenic-desertification.
Descriptors: multiple-cropping, water-reservoirs, irrigation-requirements, irrigation-scheduling, water-availability, water allocation, crop-growth-stage, water-use, efficiency. decision-making, mathematical-models, karnataka, stochastic-dynam
ic-programming-models.
Abstract: A model for the optimal operating policy of a reservoir for irrigation under a multiple crops scenario using stochastic dynamic programming (SDP) is developed. Intraseasonal periods smaller than the crop growth stage durations fo
rm the decision intervals of the model to facilitate irrigation decisions in real situations. Reservoir storage, inflow to the reservoir, and the soil moisture in the irrigated area are treated as state variables. An optimal allocation process is incorpor
ated in the model to determine the allocations to individual crops when a competition for water exists among them. The model also serves as an irrigation scheduling model in that at any given intraseason period it specifies whether irrigation is needed an
d, if it is, the amount of irrigation to be applied to each crop. The impact on crop yield due to water deficit and the effect of soil moisture dynamics on crop water requirements are taken into account. A linear root growth of the crop is assumed until t
he end of the vegetative stage, beyond which the root depth is assumed to be constant. The applicability of the model is demonstrated through a case study of an existing reservoir in India.
Descriptors: water allocation, irrigation-systems.
Descriptors: water-resources, water allocation, attitudes, regional-surveys. case-studies, decision-making, Western Australia.
Descriptors: irrigation, irrigation-scheduling, water allocation, linear-programming, simulation-models, irrigation-systems, water-availability, oryza-sativa, field-crops, rotations, irrigated-farming, decision-making, Nepal, irrigation-manage ment, compromise-programming.
Descriptors: irrigation, drainage, performance, indicators, water allocation, water-management, irrigated-farming, sustainability, irrigation-channels, irrigation-systems, research-program-on-irrigation-performance, irrigation-management.
Descriptors: irrigation, water-management, irrigation-systems, performance, efficiency, water-allocation, equations, irrigation-channels, water-flow, Pakistan-northwest-frontier.
Descriptors: irrigation-water, water-use, water allocation, irrigation-requirements, reservoirs, planning, simulation-models, Mexico, cropping-patterns.
Descriptors: water allocation, markets, water-use, efficiency, stream-flow, mathematical-models, demand, right-of-access.
Abstract: Most of the effort being expended to revise western water policy concerns the maintenance of instream waters to the exclusion of traditional diversionary interests. Absent from the economics literature is a theoretical treatment
addressing the interface between diversionary and instream water uses. At issue is the potential for refining market operations to accomplish efficient allocation in the presence of both diversionary and instream uses. Optimization methods are employed to
examine this issue in a highly generalized framework. If a specific structure is adopted, markets and other incentive-based policies are demonstrated to be capable of efficient water allocation.
Descriptors: water-resources, water-management, water-use, watershed-management, water-allocation, China.
Descriptors: irrigation-water, water allocation, water-systems, mathematical-models, Pakistan.
Descriptors: irrigation-scheduling, irrigation-requirements, linear-programming, water allocation, irrigated-farming, computer-software, Lombok.
Abstract: Throughout the world the importance of water management is becoming more important as the demand for water increases. As one of the major uses of water, irrigation could benefit from improved management practices. The establishme
nt of a Water Operations Centre in Indonesia has seen the development of a real-time water allocation, model for a complex irrigation system covering 60000 ha. The model uses linear programming (an optimization technique) to determine the best way in whi
ch to allocate limited water supplies while keeping crop yield losses to a minimum.
Descriptors: irrigation-water, water-use, salinity, water allocation, water-quality, income-distribution, agricultural-regions, linear-models, efficiency, Israel.
Abstract: The paper presents an analysis of the economic potential of regional cooperation in water use in irrigation under conditions characterized by a general trend of increasing salinity. Income maximizing solutions for the region are
derived and the related income distribution schemes are solved for, with the aid of cooperative game theory algorithms and shadow cost pricing. Distinction is made between distribution policies with and without side payments. The reasonableness and the ac
ceptability of these schemes is later critically evaluated. The Nash-Harsanyi approach seems to be the most appropriate for the conditions studied.
Descriptors: groundwater, water allocation, rent, water-use, right-of-access, value-theory, property-transfers, private-ownership, water-costs, water-supply, demand, urban-areas, case-studies, Hawaii, economic-rents, willingness-to-pay, willin gness-to-accept.
Descriptors: water-supply, water-policy, economic-policy, water-costs, water allocation, case-studies, water-use, irrigation, Alberta.
Descriptors: irrigation-water, water-use, water allocation, rural-urban-relations, agricultural-regions, water-supply, assessment, uncertainty, rain, stochastic-programming, opportunity-costs, crop-production, decision-making, production-funct ions, constraints, case-studies, Colorado, discrete-sequential-stochastic-programming, foregone-economic-value, colorado-canal, Crowley-county,-colorado, soil-productivity, precipitation-constraints.
Descriptors: water allocation, irrigation, irrigation-requirements, computer-simulation, simulation-models, drought, irrigated-farming.
Descriptors: drought, water-use, water allocation, social-structure occupations, farm-size, farm-workers, household-surveys, California, kern-county California, san-joaquin-valley California.
Abstract: This paper examines perceptions of drought vulnerability among residents of the southern San Joaquin Valley portion of Kern County, California. The area is unique in the western United States because of its complex water delivery
infrastructure and its intensive level of agricultural production supported by agricultural labor. The area is interesting to rural sociologists because it was part of Goldschmidt's research on the social implications of agribusiness. We argue that the r
elationship between resource production and social stratification suggested by Goldschmidt's research presents some important implications for understanding perceptions of resource scarcity in the present day. We explore perceptions of drought vulnerabili
ty by several dimensions of stratification--primary occupation, location of residence, length of residence, household income, and racial/ethnic background. While our findings illustrate that agricultural owners/operators perceive the greatest levels of co
ncern about severe drought, the unique character of agricultural production in the area is related to perceptions of vulnerability among broader segments of the local population. The findings suggest that dependence upon existing water utilization pattern
s may present substantial obstacles to effective drought policy and planning.
Descriptors: water-supply, water allocation, water-policy, public-agencies, California.
Descriptors: water allocation, water-resources, water-storage costs, problem-analysis, California.
Descriptors: irrigation-water, right-of-access, property-transfers, water allocation, risk, water-costs, reservoirs, seasonal-fluctuations, probability-analysis, victoria, new-south-wales, portfolio-of-irrigation-water-entitlements.
Descriptors: irrigated-farming, water allocation, state-government, environmental-legislation, land-prices loans, agricultural-credit, water-quality, quality-standards, federal-government, irrigation-water, irrigation-requirements, California.
Descriptors: american-indians, federal-government, water-use, water allocation, legal-rights, water-policy, courts, decision-making, history, feasibility, standards, quantity-controls, USA, Wyoming.
Descriptors: water-resources, water-policy, water allocation, agricultural-sector markets, water-costs, linear-programming, mathematical-models, shadow-prices, right-of-access, institution-building, Israel.
Abstract: This paper explores the implications of the transformation of the system of water resources allocation to the agricultural sector in Israel from a one in which allotments are allocated to the different users without any permissio
n to trade with water rights. A mathematical planning model is used for the entire Israeli agricultural sector, in which an 'optimal' allocation of the water resources is found and compared to the existing one. The results of the model are used in order t
o gain insight into the shadow price of the different water bodies in Israel (about eight). These prices can then be used to grant property rights to the water users themselves in order to guarantee rational behavior of water use, since now one can sell t
heir rights at the source itself. The implication is clear with regard to any possible movement towards a market system in any other sector. From the dual prices of the primal problem we can forecast the equilibrium prices and their implications for the d
ifferent users. The central government does not have to interfere with the market mechanism because, as will be shown, every farmer has the option to sell his right or to use it. As participation in the market is voluntary, every farmer makes a decision t
hat is both individually and socially rational. However, in moving from a central planning allocation to a market mechanism, the government has another task, which is to grant the property rights in order for the market to begin to evolve. It is not guara
nteed that under any initial allocation a decentralization of the system will benefit all the regions but at least part of the problem is to be resolved between the regions themselves. As the results shows, there is a potential budgetary benefit of 28 mi
llion dollars when capital cost is not included and 64 million dollars when they are included.
Descriptors: surface-water, water-resources, water allocation, water-supply, western-states-of-usa.
Descriptors: surface-water, land-use, water-use, farm-inputs, water-policy, development-projects, water allocation, legislation, water-costs, mathematical-models, equations, price-elasticities, comparisons, farm-surveys, agricultural-regions, California, san-joaquin-valley, Ccentral-valley-project-improvement-act-p l -102-575,-1992.
Descriptors: water allocation, water-use, price-formation, Idaho.
Descriptors: water allocation, drought, water-policy, irrigation-water, water-use, efficiency, California.
Descriptors: water-resources, water-management, water allocation, Minnesota, Washington, Nebraska, Michigan.
Descriptors: water-quality, irrigation-water, markets, water-use, efficiency, water allocation, farm-management, decision-making, drainage, simulation-models, water-policy, USA.
Abstract: In addition to improving the allocative efficiency of water use, water markets may reduce irrigation-related water quality problems. This potential benefit is examined with a nonlinear programming model developed to simulate agri
cultural decision-making in a drainage problem area in California's San Joaquin Valley. Results indicate that a 30% drainage goal is achievable through improvements in irrigation practices and changes in cropping patterns induced by a water market. Althou
gh water markets will not generally achieve a least-cost solution, they may be a practical alternative to economically efficient, but informatio
NALly intensive, environmental policies such as Pigouvian taxes.
Descriptors: irrigation, irrigation-systems, water allocation, water-use, efficiency incentives, diversification, technology, opportunity-costs, water-policy, legal-rights, Chile, Mexico, California, tradable-water-rights.
Abstract: The rapid liberalization of developing economies encourages agricultural diversification and commercialization. Prevailing water allocation methods have tended to limit the flexibility of farmers in reallocating resources in resp
onse to changing incentives. Reform of water allocation mechanisms has lagged behind other input sectors, largely because the physical, technological and economic characteristics of water resources pose special problems to establishment of water rights an
d market-based allocation of water. This paper shows that there is considerable evidence of sufficient physical flexibility in most irrigation systems to permit crop diversification; that water allocation and crop planting choices respond to the scarcity
value of water; and that markets in tradable water rights can be effectively implemented with appropriate design of water law, institutions, and regulations.
Descriptors: water-resources, urban-areas, water-management, water allocation, water-policy, Maharashtra.
Descriptors: water-resources, resource-management, use-efficiency, water-costs, cost-benefit-analysis, water allocation, opportunity-costs, pareto-efficiency.
Descriptors: water allocation, water-resources, rivers, watersheds, simulation-models, computer-simulation, computer-software, land-use, decision-making, water-use, South Africa, catchment-resource-assessment-model, crocodile-river.