Incentives and Instruments for Sustainable Irrigation

This book deals with the complex issue of promoting the development towards sustainable irrigation. It provides a comprehensive discussion of the importance of institutions and governance to guide this process and then provides examples from around the world.

This book looks at Sustainable Irrigation in a holistic way, considering the multidisciplinary objectives of sustainable agriculture, sustainable water management, sustainable water infrastructure, sustainable irrigation communities and a sustainable environment, the need to reallocate water between competing users, and the need for water and food security in an environment of scarcity. It does this by accepting the links between these objectives, and the need to change behavior and perceptions when it comes to water and how water is used. It does not treat sustainable irrigation as a fixed defined endpoint, but rather as a locally defined and constantly changing objective. It provides a comprehensive discussion of the importance of institutions and governance to guide this process and then provides examples from around the world showing how incentives and instruments have been introduced to support this development, how successful they have been and what the factors have promoted or impeded the successful outcomes.

Chapter
1: Sustainable irrigation: Setting the scene Introduction
Sustainable irrigation in the context of this book
An outline of the book Chapter
2: Sustainable irrigation: A historical perspective Introduction
Examples of early irrigation systems/societies
Conclusions Chapter
3: Sustainable water projects: The task of economic instruments and supporting institutions Introduction
Institutional setting
Financial failures in public irrigation
Economic instruments
Institutions to improve cost recovery
Supporting institutions
Conclusion Chapter
4: Governance and the challenges of water and food security Introduction
Water security and irrigation
Governance and water security
Case study: Irrigation, water security, and governance
in the Murray-Darling Basin
Discussion and conclusions Chapter
5: A robust framework for the allocation of water in an ever-changing world Introduction
Outcomes, principles and concepts
Defining a robust allocation regime for a regulated river system
System bulk allocations
Individual interests
Water accounting
Interception
Allocation management
Facilitating adjustment in an ever-changing world
Managing environmental water
Concluding comment Chapter
6: Non-profit-maximising values and attitudes influencing irrigators' management response to new policy instruments Chapter
7: Towards more sustainable irrigation: Factors influencing allocation and entitlement prices and demand in the Goulburn Murray Irrigation District of Australia Introduction
The study region and water trading background
Influences on allocation and entitlement prices
Influences on the elasticity of water demand and supply
Conclusion Chapter
8: Incorporating the environment into the market: The case of water trusts and environmental water transfers in the western United States Introduction
Institutional framework for environmental water transfers Chapter
9: Water options contracts to facilitate intersectoral trade Introduction
Potential for intersectoral trade in the Murrumbidgee Valley
The nature of options contracts and their applicability to water Markets
Methodology, data and results
Policy implications
Conclusions Chapter
10: Assessing alternative models for farmers' ability to pay for irrigation water Introduction
Background and conceptual framework
Case study from the Kyrgyz Republic
Conclusions Chapter
11: Energy prices, biofuels, and irrigated agriculture Introduction
Model of irrigation water demand
Impact of changing energy prices
Choice of irrigation and conveyance technology
Impact of changing energy prices on technology choice
Conclusion Chapter
12: Toward sustainable irrigation: Would subsidizing improve technologies result in water conservation in Alberta, Canada? Introduction
Policy and legislative framework
Irrigation in Alberta and Canada
Survey design and methods
Survey results
Subsidizing new technologies
Conclusions Chapter
13: Application of economic instruments, tradable licences and good governance for sustainable irrigation water conservation in South Africa Introduction
Some theoretical and practical considerations
Economic instruments for water conservation
Hydrological issues
Empirical results of water marketing studies
Equity with water allocation
Governance in water management
Separation of water and land rents
Conclusion Chapter
14: Sustainability of groundwater resources in India: Challenges and scope for economic instruments and policy Introduction
Overview of groundwater issues in India
Linkages between land, energy and water usage
Alternative economic instruments for Indian groundwater
Synthesis and conclusions