Premium
Climate change, water rights, and water supply: The case of irrigated agriculture in Idaho
Author(s) -
Xu Wenchao,
Lowe Scott E.,
Adams Richard M.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1002/2013wr014696
Subject(s) - climate change , water supply , environmental science , agriculture , damages , water resource management , water use , water resources , farm water , natural resource economics , water conservation , agricultural economics , irrigation , economics , geography , environmental engineering , agronomy , ecology , archaeology , political science , law , biology
We conduct a hedonic analysis to estimate the response of agricultural land use to water supply information under the Prior Appropriation Doctrine by using Idaho as a case study. Our analysis includes long‐term climate (weather) trends and water supply conditions as well as seasonal water supply forecasts. A farm‐level panel data set, which accounts for the priority effects of water rights and controls for diversified crop mixes and rotation practices, is used. Our results indicate that farmers respond to the long‐term surface and ground water conditions as well as to the seasonal water supply variations. Climate change‐induced variations in climate and water supply conditions could lead to substantial damages to irrigated agriculture. We project substantial losses (up to 32%) of the average crop revenue for major agricultural areas under future climate scenarios in Idaho. Finally, farmers demonstrate significantly varied responses given their water rights priorities, which imply that the distributional impact of climate change is sensitive to institutions such as the Prior Appropriation Doctrine.