PUB00041

• Year: 1998
• Title: Western Irrigation Economic Benfits Review
• CWCB Section: Finance
• Author: Family Farm Alliance
• Description: White paper on the role of irrigated agriculture in the 21st century.
• Publications - Doc Type: Tech Report

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gener.lIes :thour 560 hillion of Income annually \\ ithin Ihe Wc~fcrn states (dine! .lOtI
indirect income).

Agriculture is om' of the htrgc'il l.'mpJoYl'n<i in the \"c!'ot. and this is dcmonstn.ltcd by
irrig:lIcd agril'ulturc's contrihution to inl'oml' \\ ithin the stall..' of California. For
IH'rSpl'l'tiH', tht, l'tllllhilll'd. dirl'l'f l'arncll innlllll' frolll California's irri:,:att.'d <1gricultun'
industry (without thl' multiplier effect) is greater th.1n the indh-idual carm'd incomc from
the electronics manufacturing sector, the :lin.'nlrt manufacturing Sl'ctor. the
l'ommunic:llions sector. tht, aUlo!l1otin' sales :lntl SCryiC'l' Sl'ctor. the federal ci\'ilian
employment sector. or the motion pit'tHI'C indust~, (each imkpl'nlll'nt sector). Irrigated
agrkultun' i!' an l'".'ooomic pt)\\erhouse within the state.

Tht.' income effl'l,ts for irrigatt.'d ;lgril'ulturc :llso can he cstimated for impacts within
n'gions or cOllntil,'s. In Tahle 3. thl' din'ct and indin'ct income dfecls ;In' prn\'idl'l..1 for
selected coulltil'!' (Illajor irrigated agriculture counties). Till' irrig;Hed agriculture
industry provides hundrcds-of-millions of dollars for many local and regional economics,
:lOd offers either ;1 domin:1Il1 or suppll'mcntal roll' to the well-heing of rCl!,ional economics.
In many cases. irrigated al!,riculturt' income is a rcli;tble and steady source of im'ome within
:1 local economy that is less suhject to volatile changes than that produced h)' other
industries, such as bllsincssl's within the m:lIlufactllring and scrvice sectors.

5.3.

Income Lillka::es I.'illlillllte Economy-Ihe Flolt' of Economic Trall,metiolls.

The agricultural industl}' affects almost all economic Sl'ctnrs of the economy. This is
ohsenahll' through the I/O modeling exercise, "here the "linkages" hetwcen l'conomic
sectors an' estimated (see Tahle -I), The linkages represent the buying (inputs) and selling
(output) conducted among the diffl'rent l'conomic sectors as they denlop products and
provide services within the onrall economy. This acti\'ity is often referred to as the Onw of
l'conomic transactions within an eCOllom)'.

Tahle -I displays the economic linkages associated with the agricultural industry for
the states of California, Idaho, and ~ehraska, ClIifornia is a state where almost all
Economic5 Benefit Review/Page-Iii