Premium
Efficient Spatial Allocation of Irrigation Water
Author(s) -
Chakravorty Ujjayant,
Roumasset James
Publication year - 1991
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 - 10.2307/1242892
Subject(s) - irrigation , water pricing , water source , water resource management , function (biology) , marginal cost , environmental science , marginal utility , water conservation , agricultural engineering , economics , microeconomics , engineering , ecology , evolutionary biology , biology
In the presence of conveyance losses, the efficient quantity of water applied falls with distance from the water source, but the amount of water “sent” (including conveyance losses) actually increases with distance from the source, except toward the tail end of the irrigation system. This implies that if marginal cost pricing were implemented, farmers at the middle and lower reaches of the system would have to pay more money for less water received. The model is illustrated and alternative financing schemes compared for an empirically derived demand function for irrigation water.