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<br />o <br />~ <br />...\ <br /> <br />pred1c:ed ~y the moael ~ay be o...er~st1mated. particularl) at ttle higher tax <br /> <br />rates. <br /> <br />Tax1no Irr1oat1on Water. An alternative to taxing a noopelnt effluent of <br /> <br />uncertain or1g1n and magnitUde 1s taxing an fmpor:ant input to ':r.e j:lrocess <br /> <br />yielding the pollutant (the so-called "influent tax") (Pfeiffer and nh1ttleseYi <br /> <br />Raccsev1C:"l and Skogertoe). <br /> <br />In the case of Grand Valley sal1nfty, the It.cst <br /> <br />appropriate input to tax 15 1rr1gat10n water. Reducing water use ....ou1d rec:uce <br /> <br />t/'le deep percolatfon of water 1nto the saline aqutfers, and thus reduce salt <br /> <br />loading_ <br /> <br />Dtfferent water rate structures must d1st1ngu1sh between re\len\.,;es <br /> <br />re~ufred to cover the costs of maintaining and operatfng the water cistribut10n <br /> <br />system and revenues derived from the influent ta>l:. <br /> <br />The benchmark case <br /> <br />incorporated the increasing block .ater rate used by the Grana Valley Water <br /> <br />Users Association. In 1982, gro\llers were aSS8ssea $11.20 for up to feur acre- <br /> <br />feet per acre, .itn additional water costing $4.20 per acre foot. For the <br /> <br /> <br />initial test of the influent tax, a fixed charge of $12 per acre (5600,000 <br /> <br />total) 1s assumed to cover the distribution s)'stem costs of the .ater <br /> <br />districts, and additional revenue is considered an influent ta>l:. <br /> <br />Parametric changes on the water constraint influence the mecel's choice of <br /> <br />farm practices and provide shadO" prices on 1rr1gatton 'lrater. These shacc. <br /> <br />prices _ere modeled as _ater rates: the results appear in part C of tatJle" 2. <br /> <br />About 58,000 tons of salt are removed from the river at a net social cost of <br /> <br />S7.50 per ton. This n8't social cost 1s lower than the cost w1th irrigation <br /> <br /> <br />system subsidies, yet ft is significantly higher than the cost uncer a sal': <br /> <br />disCharge tax. <br /> <br />However. net far:n income completel)' <::1sappears ~efore <br /> <br />significant salt reductions occur. <br /> <br />13 <br />