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<br />Water Management Study: Upper Rio Grande Basin <br /> <br />Table 2.5.-Estimated value of water diverted for major crops in the MRGCD <br /> Production characteristics 1 <br /> Incremenlal <br /> product per <br /> Under With 1 af 1 af offield <br /> full-water less per applied <br />Crop (acres irrigated in 1993) conditions acre water' <br />Alfalfa (30,837) <br />Irrigalion water applied (af/ac) 4 3 <br />Yield per acre (tons) 4.4 3.3 1.1 <br />Net earnings' $195 $70 $125 <br />Pasture (15,848) <br />Irrigation waler applied (af/ac) 3 2 <br />Yield per acre (AUM)' 4 2.7 1.3 <br />Nel earn i ngs' -$60 -$99 $19 <br />Corn silage (3,621) <br />Irrigation water applied (af/ac) 3 2 <br />Yield per acre (tons) 20 14.7 6.3 <br />Net earnings' $16 -$116 $134 <br />Green chile (896) <br />Irrigation water applied (af/ac) 4 3 <br />Yield per acre (sacks) 275 206 69 <br />Net earnings' $365 -$74 $459 <br /> <br />~: <br />::~: <br /> <br />::i: <br />k; <br /> <br />to!: <br /> <br />l-~- <br />~ <br /> <br />,~;. <br /> <br />;.:~, <br /> <br />,.,': <br />i::~ <br />:;:<; <br /> <br />b <br />l~ <br /> <br />Source: ECONorthwest. <br />1 Production characteristics for a typical farm enterprise, as estimated by the New <br />Mexico Cooperative Extension (1995) and reported by the U.S. Department of Interior, <br />Bureau of Reclamation (1980-1994). <br />2 Since there is approximately a 50 percent return flow of water that is applied to <br />irrigation fields, the value per consumptive use is double the amount in the table. <br />3 Net earnings equal the return to management, land, and risk. <br />4 AUM _ animal-unit month of forage, e.g., the amount of forage consumed by a <br />cow-calf pair per month. <br /> <br />r;;~ <br />'~i <br /> <br />w~ <br />"; <br />~ ;!, ' <br /> <br />.-'>;. <br /> <br />Tracing the subsidies for individual federal water projects is tedious and has <br />not been completed for any project in the Basin. Irrigators participating in a <br />federal water project can receive financial assistance through (1) federal <br />subsidization of the project's construction cost; (2) shifting some of irrigators' <br />repayment obligation to others because the obligation exceeds irrigators' <br />ability to pay; and (3) relieving irrigators of part of their repayment <br /> <br />"'ti <br />L' <br />I-~-_.J <br /> <br />58 <br /> <br />(:'/2939 <br /> <br />\if; <br />f2 <br />