Thesis (Ph. D. - Hydrology and Water Resources)--University of Arizona. / Includes bibliographical references.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1984 K57 / Master of Science

The participation of irrigation districts (IDs) in surface water transfers from agriculture-to-municipal uses is studied by examining IDs’ economic and political behavior, comparing their performance with non-districts (non-IDs), and analyzing the role of economic and demographic heterogeneities in water transfers. Economic modeling, econometric, and analytical techniques are used to investigate these issues. An economic model is developed to investigate how the collective-type institutional structure of IDs in the presence of local interdependencies (between internal water delivery and external water transfers) and increasing returns to scale in the internal water delivery causes reduction in marginal benefit of water transfers and the optimal transfers. The model is also used to investigate how the involvement of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in IDs causes more water uses in agriculture availing less for external transfers. The conjunction of multiple uses and exclusion rights without ownership rights in IDs’ water and vote-maximizing political structure of IDs are found to create disincentive for water conservation and transfers. Water transfer responses of IDs and non-IDs are empirically investigated by using a Quasi Maximum Likelihood Estimation (QMLE) technique. Based on the analysis of 38 years of time series water transfer data, IDs are found to be less responsive in water transfers relative to non-IDs in terms of water right-weighted transfers. It is found that water scarcity, private housing permits, and nonfarm establishments are positively associated with water transfers. The marginal effect of water scarcity on water transfer is stronger for non-IDs than for IDs. Impacts of economic and demographic heterogeneities on water transfer behavior of IDs are investigated using unbalanced panel data econometric techniques. Water right holdings and population in nearby cities of IDs are found to be significantly correlated with water transfer behaviors of IDs. Larger IDs with higher water right holdings and higher population centers in nearby cities are found to be more responsive to water transfers. The findings complement previous studies that commend public attention for policy redesign including institutional changes to motivate IDs to increase their water transfer activity.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, Institute of Land and Food Resources, 1999. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

Few studies have been made regarding the efficiency of water use in irrigation systems in operation. Therefore, in this work the search for methodologies to evaluate the actual efficiency of water use in a Mexican irrigation district as well as methods which may improve this efficiency is emphasized. The work has been divided into four parts. In the first part, the analysis of the economic activities in the irrigation district by means of linear programming has permitted finding the marginal productivity of water which is used as a shadow price for economic evaluation of the operating rules. In this part a relationship between the marginal productivity of water and the conveyance efficiency has also been found. In the second part, using hydrological historical data and a pattern of monthly water demand for crops obtained in the first part, control curves of the reservoir levels which permit knowledge of the probability of risk of spill and shortage were computed. Utilizing these curves and a simple linear programming model for finding the optimal economic annual average release, operating rules for the reservoir have been deduced. These rules were tested by means of a simulation model and their economic effectiveness was estimated using a benefit-cost analysis, showing a significant improvement in benefits for the farmers as a consequence of using these rules. In the third part, the conveyance losses in the canal network are analyzed using a linear regression between releases and deliveries. The proposed model permits an estimation of the conveyance efficiency and its division into two component factors, the intrinsic efficiency directly related to the physical characteristics of the canals, and the operational efficiency related to water management in the canal network. Knowing these components, it is possible to classify the conveyance losses as well as deduce operating rules for improving the operational efficiency. In making decisions about the methods to be used for improving the conveyance efficiency, benefits and costs must be taken into account. Therefore, a practical relationship for evaluating the economic feasibility of lining canals, considering those benefits and costs, is found as well as a method for economic evaluation of the operating rules. Finally, in the last part of this work, a practical methodology for estimating the application efficiency at the farm level in an irrigation district and small divisions as well is shown. This method is useful in finding where the problems in water use are more important within the district and which could be their principal causes. Utilizing data from experiments, which are available in most of the Mexican irrigation districts, production functions relating yields of crops to the amount of water applied and the percentage of moisture depletion in the soil before and during the flowering season of the crop, have been found. These functions can be used not only for obtaining the optimal economic depth of water to be applied and irrigation timing but also for deriving the optimal water use efficiency, whi6h, when related to actual values of this water efficiency in each subdivision of the district, permits the deduction of a practical water use efficiency index which is useful for detecting where the problems in water use are and what are the potential returns for the farmers in each of the considered subdivisions.

No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Anthropology Department, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.