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WSP05306
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Last modified
1/26/2010 2:17:46 PM
Creation date
10/12/2006 12:57:22 AM
Metadata
Fields
Template:
Water Supply Protection
File Number
8200.700
Description
Colorado River
Basin
Colorado Mainstem
Date
1/1/3000
Author
Getches and Meyers
Title
The River of Controversy - Persistent Issues
Water Supply Pro - Doc Type
Report/Study
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<br />A strong pro~3grlculture spirit lives in the breast of western society_ <br /> <br />the tradition of western agriculture is so powertul that it even moves urban <br /> <br />dwellers to oppose wa~~r d~velopments t~at would be in their interests. And <br /> <br />it moVes western politicians to cha~pion farm preservation when economically <br /> <br />more beneficial industrial or municipal uses compete for water, although the <br /> <br />electorate is concentrated in the cities. <br /> <br />Agriculture enjoys substantial economic advantages as well as receiving <br /> <br />an effective subsidy from favorable political and legal inertia. Benefits <br /> <br />accrue to irrigators using water from facilities rhat are financed by the <br /> <br />government. Project costs are repaid interest free or at below market rates <br /> <br />and amortized over an extended period,7 Feasibility studies done in connec- <br /> <br />tion with major reclamation projects do not use a cost-benefit analysis that <br /> <br />considers all the values that would be attributed in a free market. Further- <br /> <br />more, hydroelectric power revenues are used to defray much of the cost of <br /> <br />irrigation water. Also, the value of flood control, navigation and other <br /> <br />public benefits may be overstated, reducing the repayment obligation of ir- <br />e <br />rigators. Environ~ental costs are often ignored and alternative uses-- <br /> <br />industrial municipal, or adjusting strea~ flow for wildlife maintenance, <br /> <br />recreation and aesthetics--are rarely fully considered.9 <br /> <br />How far should a calculus of external costs of water use by carried? At <br /> <br />a minimum, an informed decision-making process should consider known market <br /> <br />costs and alternative uses. Significant external costs and external benefits <br /> <br />also should be identified. Nonmarket values that surround agriculture and <br /> <br />other uses should be considered too in water policy-making. <br /> <br />(sl1:l <br /> <br />Is The Law Of The River Inequitable To The Upper Basin? <br /> <br />Water from the Colorado is shared among the seven basin states in a way <br /> <br />- 5 - <br />
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