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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of real income g~lin. Th{'fC is a tangihle differcnn' betwccn actual din'l't net \"alue "ithin "
n'.l) market tnm~action or U!"l' cin'umSlaOl'(', y('nus the pUrl' pen'e.'plio" of economic \";llue.
This is an b~Ul' that suml' rCSOUfn' cconnmist.o; bclic\'C should temper how l'xistCIlCC '-:llm's
arc uSl'd. and m.l)- limit their n.'h.'\":'lncc \\ Iu.'n heing contr:lsttu din'clly to usc
nIIUl'Shp:lrticularly wltl'n the C\btcnl'c ,-altles eU'l.'cd WiC '-:I!tH' by sl'Hral factor.";.

And third. lIon-usc, "unmarkct measures of existence nllul' arc seldom haoulcd
l'qui\":lIcntly hchncn fCSOllfCl' comparisuns. For n:lmplc. while economiC' nlluarion
cstimatcs h:lH' hl't'" made to capture lISC :lnu non-uS<' '"allies for many cll\"ironmcntal
resources. e,ish'nn' \'ahH's arc seldom. if ('\'Cr. cunsid('n'd for activities such as the
irrigation s('ctor; tlu'n' is, no douht, some existence \':llut th~lt society attaches to
:lgricultun' ~lJ1d all of its ('II\'ironltu'ntal qmllities. ('ither real or imagined. This can he
illustrated hy the tyra's of ('CIHlOmic \'aluation studies th~lt 11:1\(' heen n'ccntly conducted for
the Central Valley Projc(.t ~lIld th(' Snake-Columhia Rinr Basin. ;\'un-use ('xistence \':llues
h~ln' bcen ('stinwted for fish reSOUrl'es (which also nfain use "alm.'s). hut no attempt is
made to c~llculate IlOn-use existence values for the irrigation sector henefits. In effect. the
nlluc cstimates used to assess economic trade-offs, in th('S(' situ~ltions. arc not equi\'~llent in
slructur"e.

Const.'quently. thc enlllomic tnlde-offs i1l\"oh'ing water n'allocation d('cisions must
he weighed with great caution. While decision "Hikers may harhor the hest of intentions.
the ('nd result of incompletely reyie\\ed decisions could kid to a real loss of economic
h('m'fits. Such a situation is descrihNI hy the follo\\ iog l.:ase study.

7.4.0. A Ca.'1e Stlll~l'. Salmon Flolt' Augmell1atio1J ill tile Snake-Columbia River Drainage.

The salmon flow ~lUgmentation program in thc Sn:lke-Columhia Rin'r drainage
pnn'ides an excellent case study to eX:lmine the economic trade-offs hetween irrigated
agriculture and cm'ironmental resources, It also highlights prohlems surrounding a
('ontro\'Crsial and ill-considered water resource policy and the nced to pro\'ide quantified
\'erification Ilf (,'m-ironmcntal henefits from changes to water resources management.

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