Analytical Institutional Economics of Water and Environmental Conservation

Both President Peter Reynolds and Secretary General Glenn Stout attended the IWRA Regional Seminar on Water Quality and its Management in New Delhi, India on December 10–11, 1985. Over 100 members and fellow water scientists and administrators attended. Leading Indian water authorities participated in the program.

We reproduce here the inaugural address by Shri B. Shankaranand, Union Minister for Water Resources, and a summary of the Conclusions and Recommendations.     

Water Right Prices in the Rio Grande: Analysis and Policy Implications

Climate change, water supply limits, growing environmental values of water and worldwide population growth continue to raise the scarcity of water. These challenges have intensified the transfer of water from farms to cities. Water right transfers are an important international institution to stretch water supplies. In North America's Rio Grande Basin water right transfers are an especially important institution for meeting the growth in urban demands. Despite the importance of water right transfers as a social institution, sellers face uncertainty on the asking price, while buyers face similar uncertainty on the offer price. Weak information on water right prices stymies water transfers while limiting the future resilience of water transfers to address climate change and the need to cope with change in water supplies and demands. This paper describes the development of a database on water right prices using observed transactions from 1980 to 2007. An empirical model was developed using the data to identify important factors influencing those prices. Five water right price predictors were found to be significant: total regional urban water use, priority date of the water right, quantity of water rights offered for sale, regional reservoir storage volume, and regional farm income. Depending on the future status of food scarcity and urban water conservation programmes, water right prices in the basin could grow from zero to 27% over 2010–2020.     

推进农业节水的对策思考

实现农业节水的关键,是改革传统的粗放型的经营方式,向节水高效的现代节水方式转变。节水的核心是提高水的利用率和水分生产率。一般讲,灌溉水到田间为作物吸收利用形成产量,可分为三个环节:第一个环节是渠道输水环节,存在着输水利用率的问题。第二环节为田间输水环节,存在着水分利用率的问题。第三个环节为作物吸收被蒸腾和地面蒸发环节,存在着水分生产率的问题。     

MMS政策与水土保持

如何解决人类由于生存需要,而对大自然的过度索取和破坏,推行MMS政策,实施小水电代燃料,是解决这个问题的最有效的途径.解决了农民的生计问题,有效的保护了森林和草地,水土水分得到涵养,水土流失得到遏止,生态得以修复,水土保持得以加强.在实施MMS政策的过程中,应严格遵守水土保持法,不要产生新的水土流失.     

改革农业水费管理促进农业节水

改革农业水费核定、计收、使用与管理办法,建立合理的水价形成机制,其根本目标是促进节约用水和水资源的高效利用与优化配置.通过对我国农业水费管理中存在的突出问题进行分析,提出了农业水费管理改革的目标、任务及其应该注意的问题.     

A Theoretical Analysis of Economic Incentive Policies Encouraging Agricultural Water Conservation

A conceptual model of a representative irrigated farm is formulated to study farm responses to two economic policies commonly suggested to encourage agricultural water conservation, and to characterize the hydrological and economic circumstances in which these responses provide the desired conservation. The economic policies studied are to increase the irrigator's cost of applied water and to subsidize the irrigator's cost of investing in improved on-farm irrigation efficiency. Comparative statics results demonstrate that increasing the cost of applied water may be a more effectual water conservation policy than subsidizing the cost of improved on-farm irrigation efficiency.     

关于发展农业节水的战略思考

农业节水对于我国国民经济健康稳定发展、对于农村产业结构调整、对于保障国家粮食安全都具有重要的战略意义.在明确今后我国农业节水的总体任务和目标基础上,建立水资源配置、管理、科技创新及产业化、技术培训与推广体系,完善投融资机制、水资源优化配置与高效利用机制、参与机制、监督检查机制,从资源配置、建设管理、理顺价格、科技推广等方面推行农业节水战略.     

灌区两部制水价政策的经济分析

在对两部制水价政策效应的理论分析基础上,运用湖北漳河灌区农业水价改革调查资料,分析了灌区水价改革的实践效果及其成因。研究表明,两部制水价政策强化了农田灌溉中的水量限制,而忽视了在既定制度约束下农民对水利工程供水的理性需求和灌溉系统的有效供水能力的现实约束。在农业用水交易充满不确定性和水权制度尚未形成的现实条件下,水市场交易的不确定性、水市场信息的不对称性和农田水利投资的滞后性,导致农业两部制水价改革难以达到节约用水和改善水资源分配效应的预期目标。因此,提出灌区两部制水价改革成功的关键在于以交易合约化为核心的农业水市场建设。     

Water Allocation,Transfers and Conservation: Links between Policy and Hydrology

As the demand for water for agricultural, urban, industrial and environmental uses increases, it will be necessary to better understand the interaction between hydrology and the institutions that will govern water use. Water transfers are considered one of the primary tools for coping with increased water demand. This paper examines several key issues and demonstrates potential pitfalls that must be addressed when designing water transfer policy. An important result is that to be effective, water transfer policy must account for basin hydrology.     

农业节水主攻方向探讨

解决北方地区水资源危机问题的关键，是在现有的大中型引河水的灌区内打井，按照以井灌为基础、引地表水补源的原则进行技术３和加强用水管理。井灌区应采取以农业综合节水技术体系，保持在一个水文周期内地下水采补基本平衡。喷灌是先进灌水技术，有许多优点，但也有许多限制条件，推广应因地制宜，新生群众意愿。     

An Institutional Economics Perspective: The Impact of Water Provider Privatisation on Water Conservation in England and Australia

In the context of the world-wide trend towards the privatisation of water supplies, this article uses institutional economics to examine the incentives for English and Australian water providers to implement strategies to reduce household water consumption. The authors hypothesise that the effective marketing of reduced domestic water consumption is likely to be strengthened by the extent of government control over water providers. This hypothesis is examined using a case study of ten English water companies (all privately owned and subject to identical government regulation) and ten Australian water utilities (with varying degrees of government ownership and regulation), focusing on their promotion of home retrofitting with water-efficient technology. The examination supports the hypothesis, leading to the conclusion that significant government control of water utilities is necessary to curb domestic water consumption.     

生态经济学理论对水土保持生态建设的指导意义

从生态经济学的基本理论出发，说明促成人与自然的和谐共存，实现生态环境的可持续利用，是进行水土保持生态建设的重中之重。     

临汾市农业节水可持续发展的实践与对策

总结“九五”期间临汾市农业节水工作的主要措施、经验和取得的成就，提出今后农业节水可持续发展的主要对策。     

水土保持与生态建设浅析

生态省建设是我省以科学的发展观从全局的高度做出的重大战略决策。在生态系统中，水是其中最活跃最重要的控制性因素，水利的水土保持工作本身就是生态建设。     

关于小农水补助费管理方式的初步探讨

介绍了小农水补助费管理体制的变革，指出小农水补助费按项目管理存在的问题，介绍了辽宁省实行“以奖代补”运行机制的初步尝试及体会如下；（1）小农水补助费的使用范围、投向没有改变，体现了多干多得，少干少得、不干不得的原则，使党和政府对农业和对农民的扶贫政策更得民心、更顺民意；（2）项目公开、补助费分配透明，便于监督和管理，从源头上遏制腐败；（3）符合国家公共财政框架体制的基本要求。     

Irrigation Technology Transitions in the Mid-plains States: Implications for Water Conservation/Water Quality Goals and Institutional Changes

A Parks modified multinomial logit model is used to examine the influence of the agricultural economic environment on irrigation technology transitions in the mid-plains states. Simulation analyses assess expected agricultural water conservation and its implications for water quality/environmental goals and water institutional reform. Under baseline agri-economic assumptions, regional agricultural water use efficiency could improve from 2.3% to 9.8%. Technology-specific elasticities show that crop price effects on irrigation technology transitions are relatively inelastic. Results for the mid-plains states differ from those obtained for the Pacific north-west (an earlier study), implying that differentially endowed resource regions will likely require different resource conservation policy and institutional approaches.     

Agent-Based Residential Water Use Behavior Simulation and Policy Implications: A Case-Study in Beijing City

Residential water use constitutes a major part of urban water demand, and has be gaining importance in the urban water supply. Considering the complexity of residential water use system, an agent-based social simulation, i.e. the Residential Water Use Model (RWUM), is developed in this paper to capture the behavioral characteristics of residential water usage. By disaggregating total water demands down to constituent end-uses, this model can evaluate heterogeneous consumer responses on water, taking into account the factors of market penetration of water-saving technologies, regulatory policies, economic development, as well as social consciousness and preferences. Also, uncertainty analysis technique is innovatively applied in this agent-based model for parameter calibration and model robust testing. According to the case study in Beijing, this model can provide insights to water management agency in evaluating different water usage polices, as well as estimations for potential water saving for future infrastructure development planning.     

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Residential Water Efficiency Initiatives in England: Influencing Factors and Policy Implications

Water Resources Management - Providers of municipal water supply services worldwide are facing pressure from climate change and increasing water demand due to growing populations and lifestyle...     

加快建立我国农业节水保障体系的对策和建议

全面推进农业节水快速发展的关键是建立适应我国市场经济和现行农业经济体制条件下发展农业节水的保障体系。针对目前制约我国农业节水发展的主要问题，从科学规划，管理体制，投资机制，水价政策，科技创新，技术推广以及政策法规等方面提出了一些意见和建议。     

搞好水土保持贯彻基本国策

水土流失严重制约国民经济的发展,导致人口增长与资源紧缺的矛盾更加尖锐.必须坚定不移地贯彻水土保持这一基本国策,进一步深化认识、强化监督执法、加强领导,建立政府领导任期内的水土保持目标考核制度,实现治理水土流失,改善生态环境,建设秀美山川的目标.