The hydrologic and economic effects of water marketing on an irrigated stream-aquifer system subject to salinity degradation

Thesis/Dissertation · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:5191406

Lefkoff, L J

The hydrologic and economic effects of water resource policies and institutions are evaluated for an irrigated, saline stream-aquifer system. Water marketing and reduced water use are analyzed by utilizing three models developed for this study. The models simulate the stream-aquifer system under current institutions, a market economy, and centralized management. All models describe solute transport approximately with continuously differentiable algebraic functions. The functions are derived by performing multiple linear regression on Monte Carlo solutions to a separate solute transport model. A policy to institutionalize a rental market is evaluated by comparing model results with and without the market. In the hypothetical rental market, surface water is traded annually among farmers, while groundwater is used to augment irrigation supplies. Market simulations account for changes in the value of ground water and surface water due to salinity differences. Results show that the market enhances economic production by transferring water to its most highly valued location of use. A policy to reduce water use is evaluated by comparing centralized, long-term management to autonomous, seasonal decision making.

• Research Organization: Stanford Univ., CA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5191406
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290200 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Economics & Sociology
290400 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Energy Resources
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540350* -- Environment
Aquatic-- Site Resource & Use Studies-- (1990-)
AQUIFERS
HYDROLOGY
IRRIGATION
MARKETING
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
RESOURCE CONSERVATION
RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
RESOURCES
SALINITY
STREAMS
SURFACE WATERS
WATER RESOURCES