Joel R. Hamilton

Interruptible Water Markets in the Pacific Northwest

This paper analyzes the potential for using a market to shift water from irrigation to hydropower use in periods of low river flow in the Snake River basin of Idaho. The water could be used for irrigation in most years but in dry years would be very valuable for firming up electric power supplies. A model of crop growth and water use was utilized to estimate farmer responses and resulting farm income losses due to market-restricted irrigation water supplies. Results indicate that estimated hydropower benefits are ten times greater than estimated lost farm income, so the proposed water market should be economically feasible.

Economic Impacts, Value Added, and Benefits in Regional Project Analysis

This paper addresses five issues encountered when estimating secondary benefits in regional project analysis: (a) the correction for opportunity cost of factors used, (b) the treatment of mobile factors, (c) the effect of economies of size, (d) the role of forward linkages, and (e) the role of spatial structure of economic regions. The first four are reasons that only a small part, if any, of regional impacts can be treated as regional net benefits. The fifth is a reason that, when secondary benefits or damages do exist, their correct estimation can depend on the spatial structure of the affected areas.

The Role of Prior Appropriation in Allocating Water Resources into the 21st Century

This article demonstrates how widespread technological changes in agriculture have weakened the security of traditional appropriative water rights. Since legal protection of these rights has severely restricted the use of transfer mechanisms to reallocate water to emerging social needs, this demonstration provides a powerful and novel argument for increasing the flexibility of the prior appropriation system and operating it in conjunction with other legitimate water-allocation doctrines protecting public interests in water.

Summary measures of interconnectedness for input-output models

The performance of six alternative measures of input-output model interconnectedness was tested on a set of fourteen empirical models for Australia, for the State of Queensland, and for subregions within Queensland. Such measures of interconnectedness could be analytically useful, along with the input-output models themselves, as descriptions of the nature of the modeled economies, as aids in model estimation, and perhaps as indications of the level of economic development. Since there is no generally accepted interconnectedness measure, the six tested measures could be judged only on their consistency of behavior and on the validity of their underlying logic. Accounting conventions and model aggregation both affected most of the measures. The results suggest that mean intermediate coefficient total per sector is the most generally useful interconnectedness measure.

Water Allocation, Transfers and Conservation: Links between Policy and Hydrology

As the demand for water for agricultural, urban, industrial and environmental uses increases, it will be necessary to better understand the interaction between hydrology and the institutions that will govern water use. Water transfers are considered one of the primary tools for coping with increased water demand. This paper examines several key issues and demonstrates potential pitfalls that must be addressed when designing water transfer policy. An important result is that to be effective, water transfer policy must account for basin hydrology.

The economic impact of irrigation development in Idaho: An application of marginal input-output methods

Impacts of expanded irrigation in Idaho are estimated using marginal input-output. This makes it possible to account for changes in input use from the average input mix of existing sectors. Particular attention is given to the effect of new, energy intensive irrigation on the overall demand for electricity, and on limited low-cost hydroelectric sources in particular.

Value added and secondary benefits in regional projection evaluation: Irrigation development in the Snake River basin

Benefit/cost methodologies are well accepted for project analysis from a national perspective. Recent pressure to develop local decisionmaking and local funding for water projects has focused attention on the regional costs and benefits of such development. This paper examines some methodological issues that emerge as one attempts to estimate these regional costs and benefits. Uncritical use of regional economics procedures and concepts such as input-output analysis and value added to measure the primary and secondary impacts of these projects carries the risk of seriously overestimating regional project benefits. The paper concludes that new approaches to regional project analysis must be developed that will reconcile and incorporate regional economics procedures with benefit/cost methodology.

Sailaba irrigation practices and prospects

Sailaba, or runoff farming, is among the oldest forms of irrigated agriculture. While most existing sailaba farming systems use age‐old practices and offer considerable scope for improvement, properly constructed and managed sailaba systems can produce good crops of fruits, nuts, cereals, and vegetables. There is little available literature that describes sailaba system components or the institutions responsible for sailaba construction and management. Components of sailaba farming systems and the institutions involved in the construction and management of these systems are described as found in Baluchistan, Pakistan. Problems and needed improvements for these systems have been identified. Results from several pilot studies of structural improvements and irrigation efficiency for sailaba systems illustrate the potential for improving the importance of this ancient farming system.

The Effect of Electricity Prices, Lift, and Distance on Irrigation Development in Idaho

A model is outlined that gives a reasonable partial equilibrium simulation of the impact of critical parameters, such as crop prices and yields, electricity rates, lift height, and distance from the river upon feasibility of high lift irrigation development in southwest Idaho. Results indicate that per acre returns on irrigated tracts increase slightly with farm size. Under base conditions, all farm sizes examined could sustain nearly a 10% decline in crop price or yields. Given the base lift, 550 feet, and the base distance, 5 miles, all farm sizes considered could sustain a 100% increase in electric rates. However, with a 200% power rate increase, irrigation feasibility would be limited to the largest farms with lifts less than 550 feet and distances less than 4 miles. (JMT)

Climate change opportunities for Idaho's irrigation supply and deliveries

The Snowmelt Runoff Model (SRM) was used to simulate timing and magnitude of runoff for six climate scenarios (2030 and 2080 ‘Wet’, ‘Middle’, and ‘Dry’). The water supply results from SRM were run through a Southern Idaho reservoir operation and water rights allocation model (MODSIM). The 2030-Dry and 2080-Dry scenarios produce supply deficits relative to the current climate of 5.4%, and 1.9%, respectively, for which the corresponding irrigation water delivery reductions were 1.7% and 2.7%. In contrast, the 2030-Wet, 2030-Mid, 2080-Wet, and 2080-Mid climate change scenarios increased water supply by 13.4%, 0.5%, 19.5%, and 5%, respectively, for which water deliveries increased by 0.41%, 0.04%, 0.34% and 0.14%, respectively. Idahos irrigation delivery and storage system can ameliorate the risk of dry climate change, but is incapable of storing and delivering the increased water supplied by the wet climate change scenarios. This is an opportunity worth exploring.