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What Is the Use Value of Irrigation Water from the High Plains Aquifer?
Author(s) -
García Suárez Federico,
Fulginiti Lilyan E.,
Perrin Richard K.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
american journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.949
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1467-8276
pISSN - 0002-9092
DOI - 10.1093/ajae/aay062
Subject(s) - aquifer , irrigation , environmental science , yield (engineering) , acre , biomass (ecology) , hydrology (agriculture) , groundwater , agronomy , geology , agroforestry , biology , materials science , geotechnical engineering , metallurgy
This study provides an estimate of the gross value of irrigation water from the U.S. High Plains Aquifer. We estimate a yield function for aggregated crop biomass production, based on county‐level observations for 1960–2007. This study found that irrigation increases total biomass yield in this region by an average of 51%. We estimate the average gross annual value of irrigation as of 2007 to be $196 per acre, for a total of about $3 billion across the aquifer. We also estimate that on average across the aquifer, exposure to 24 hours of temperatures above 33°C (one degree day) reduces biomass yield by 3%, with a value in 2007 of about $10 per acre.