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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7.0.

The Economic Value of HTater anti Economic Trade-Off\-,

7./.

WlIter J'lllllt!l.

The ('(.'onOIlIl(' \':llul' of w:lter can he expressed in turns of din'ct net \.llu(' per
acrc-ft. of water lIsed for specific .'in'tors. such .IS irrigation. hydroelectric power
prndlll'tillll. lj"huil'S and \\l..'tland.. n'stonltioll or l'nhann'IIH.'llt. and n'cn>atillnal .H't" ilics.
Scycral l'stim:Hcs of till' nllul' of \\:ltl'r rcl:Hcd to these aClh'itics havc heen m.HJc in the
Wcsl, dCllil'ting cl'onomic \'alues Ill'rind from: I) use or market trammctions (irrigation.
hydrol'll'ctric powcr. .Hul commcrl'ial fhhcrics s('ctors); 2) use activities Ih.1t J.lrl' nonmarkcl
in nature (sport fisheries ami recreation); .1I11J 3) option ami existence "allies related to both
nOll-use and nonmarkl'l 1H.'rcclltions of ,""Iue (various types of l'll,ironrnental n'sources).

7.2.

Recent E.'tiuUlle"\ of Economic "'altle.

Tahle 6 displays estimated din'f..'t lIelt.'cunomic '"a lues for W:ltl'r, for sennll types of
eeollomif..' sl'dor ~lcti,"ities. This nalUf..' is l'stimated in tl'rms of dolhlrs per acn'-ft. uf USf..' ur
water required tn support a s[H.'cific activity.

In tht., case of the irrigaled :lgricullun' St.'ctor, lhl' cSlim:Hed value range for c\isting
water use (,In>nlgf..' ":llue) is ahout S-lO- 70 pcr acn'.fl. of water. This is consistenl wilh
values that arc common to the Pacific :\'ortll\Hst, California, Te\as, and Colorado, and lhe
estim,lted value nlllg:t.' dt.'piclS a composite \"lllue b~lsed on seHnil different types of crops
~lfid prodm'tion practices. For marginal ,',1Iue eSlimates, holh the California water market
estimates and lhe new irrigation project estimates in :\'ew ~Ie\ico suggest '"aim's tlutt would
exceed S100 pt.'r acre-ft.; also, sOllie examples in Washington State for tht., new production
of high value crup" would suggt.'st higher marginal values for irrigatNI agriculture. Still
there are circumstances where the water for low-productivity, low~\'alue crops could be
transferred. with (he margin:tl water ,"alue being closer to the S.tO~70 per acre-ft. range,

The walt.T \'alue for hydroelectric power generation ,'nics greatly depending on the
power system or rinr basin In'ing considered. The value pro,"ided in Table 6 is calculated
from the federal hydroelectric power system within the Columbia River Basin. and it is

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