A policy option for valuing irrigation water in the dry areas

Participants at the international conference on policies for water and food security in the dry areas, held in June 2013, agreed that, given the fast pace of depletion of groundwater, the issue of water valuation in the dry areas is no longer one of whether or not, but rather of how. Policies that h...

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Main Authors: Yigezu, Yigezu Atnafe, Aw-Hassan, Aden A., Shideed, Kamil, Sommer, Rolf, El-Shater, Tamer
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: IWA Publishing 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/42301
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author Yigezu, Yigezu Atnafe
Aw-Hassan, Aden A.
Shideed, Kamil
Sommer, Rolf
El-Shater, Tamer
author_browse Aw-Hassan, Aden A.
El-Shater, Tamer
Shideed, Kamil
Sommer, Rolf
Yigezu, Yigezu Atnafe
author_facet Yigezu, Yigezu Atnafe
Aw-Hassan, Aden A.
Shideed, Kamil
Sommer, Rolf
El-Shater, Tamer
author_sort Yigezu, Yigezu Atnafe
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Participants at the international conference on policies for water and food security in the dry areas, held in June 2013, agreed that, given the fast pace of depletion of groundwater, the issue of water valuation in the dry areas is no longer one of whether or not, but rather of how. Policies that have been or are perceived to have adverse effects on the cost of agricultural production or food prices in the dry areas are often not well received and have historically led to popular uprisings. As a result, despite clear evidence of misuse of irrigation water by many farmers, governments have been avoiding the idea of water pricing. This government stance is mainly based on the assumption that policies that aim at valuing water will necessarily affect farmers negatively. Using a case study from Syria and applying a simple optimization model, this paper provides empirical evidence that a policy which introduces a penalty for excessive application of irrigation water would compel farmers to adopt water saving technologies. By so doing, the policy will not only lead to groundwater conservation but also to Pareto-optimal distribution of benefits (i.e., a situation where nobody loses and at best some or all gain).
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spelling CGSpace423012025-03-13T09:45:51Z A policy option for valuing irrigation water in the dry areas Yigezu, Yigezu Atnafe Aw-Hassan, Aden A. Shideed, Kamil Sommer, Rolf El-Shater, Tamer conservación de aguas water conservation sprinklers aspersores supplemental irrigation riego complementario estimación valuation Participants at the international conference on policies for water and food security in the dry areas, held in June 2013, agreed that, given the fast pace of depletion of groundwater, the issue of water valuation in the dry areas is no longer one of whether or not, but rather of how. Policies that have been or are perceived to have adverse effects on the cost of agricultural production or food prices in the dry areas are often not well received and have historically led to popular uprisings. As a result, despite clear evidence of misuse of irrigation water by many farmers, governments have been avoiding the idea of water pricing. This government stance is mainly based on the assumption that policies that aim at valuing water will necessarily affect farmers negatively. Using a case study from Syria and applying a simple optimization model, this paper provides empirical evidence that a policy which introduces a penalty for excessive application of irrigation water would compel farmers to adopt water saving technologies. By so doing, the policy will not only lead to groundwater conservation but also to Pareto-optimal distribution of benefits (i.e., a situation where nobody loses and at best some or all gain). 2014-06-01 2014-09-09T19:15:28Z 2014-09-09T19:15:28Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/42301 en Limited Access IWA Publishing Yigezu, Yigezu A; Aw-Hassan, Aden; Shideed, Kamil; Sommer, Rolf; El-Shater, Tamer. 2014. A policy option for valuing irrigation water in the dry areas. Water Policy. 16: 520-535.
spellingShingle conservación de aguas
water conservation
sprinklers
aspersores
supplemental irrigation
riego complementario
estimación
valuation
Yigezu, Yigezu Atnafe
Aw-Hassan, Aden A.
Shideed, Kamil
Sommer, Rolf
El-Shater, Tamer
A policy option for valuing irrigation water in the dry areas
title A policy option for valuing irrigation water in the dry areas
title_full A policy option for valuing irrigation water in the dry areas
title_fullStr A policy option for valuing irrigation water in the dry areas
title_full_unstemmed A policy option for valuing irrigation water in the dry areas
title_short A policy option for valuing irrigation water in the dry areas
title_sort policy option for valuing irrigation water in the dry areas
topic conservación de aguas
water conservation
sprinklers
aspersores
supplemental irrigation
riego complementario
estimación
valuation
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/42301
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