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The University of Tennessee | Institute of Agriculture

Department of Agricultural Economics

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Water

Water is a vital natural resource. We use it in our homes, our businesses, and our communities in many ways including drinking, waste processing, manufacturing, transportation, power generation, recreation, agriculture, and forestry.

The Department is actively engaged in a variety of issues related to water quality, use and conservation through our teaching, our research and our Extension programs.

  • Teaching
  • Research
  • Extension

Many of the classes we offer address water resources and water-related topics. These include:

Our students also take classes in other departments in CASNAR and the University that relate to water issues. Several are listed in the Natural Resource and Environmental Economics concentration.

Faculty in our department are leading innovative investigations focusing on water issues. Some of this work is organized under the natural resource and environmental management priority program while other research is part of  the agricultural resource policy program. Several of our faculty also participate in the Natural Resource Policy Center. Faculty include:

Recent publications include:

  • A Spatial Assessment of Possible Water Quality Trading Markets in Tennessee
    Roberts, D.C., C.D. Clark, W.M. Park and B.C. English
    in press. Review of Agricultural Economics
  • Economic Incentives for Water Management in the Middle East and North Africa
    Russell, C.S., C.D. Clark and E.C. Schuck
    International Journal of Water, Resources Development 23(4) (December): 653-71    , 2007
  • Investing in Water Quality: Measuring Benefits, Costs and Risks
    Russell, C.S., W J. Vaughan, C.D. Clark, D. J. Rodriguez, and A.H. Darling
    Inter-American Development Bank; Washington, D.C., 2001.
  • Using Economic Instruments to Control Nonpoint Source Pollution
    Russell, C.S., and C.D. Clark
    Water Quality Management in the Americas. A. K. Biswas, C., 2006.
    Tortajada, B. Braga and D.J. Rodriguez (Eds). Springer Verlag (November).
  • A Role for Geospatial Information Systems in Identifying Potential Tennessee Water Quality Trading Markets
    Roberts, D., and C.D. Clark
    Proceedings of the Fifteenth Tennessee Water Resources Symposium, Burns, Tennessee, April 13-15., 2005
  • Water Quality Trading: A Cost-Effective Way to Improve Water Quality in Tennessee?
    Clark, C.D., W. Park and E. Bazen
    Proceedings of the Fourteenth Tennessee Water Resources Symposium, Burns, Tennessee, March 31 - April 2: 2C-21 - 2C-26., 2004

One of our Extension faculty chairs an interdisciplinary team that provides leadership for water resource outreach education. This team has developed a number of publications and other materials  including a farmstead self-assessment program and a home self-assessment program . The department also provided leadership for the Extension portion of the Beaver Creek hydrologic unit area program .

One of our Extension faculty also serves as the state program coordinator for the Southern Region Water Quality Planning Committee part of the CSREES/USDA national water initiative