IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/resene/v51y2018icp67-83.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Optimal groundwater management under climate change and technical progress

Author

Listed:
  • Quintana Ashwell, Nicolas E.
  • Peterson, Jeffrey M.
  • Hendricks, Nathan P.

Abstract

We develop a dynamic model of groundwater extraction for irrigation where climate change and technical change are included as exogenous state variables in addition to the usual state variable of the stock of groundwater. Our key contributions are (i) an intuitive description of the conditions under which groundwater extraction can be non-monotonic, (ii) a numerical demonstration that extraction is non-monotonic in an important region overlying the Ogallala Aquifer, and (iii) the predicted gains from management are substantially larger after accounting for climate and technical change. Intuitively, optimal extraction is increasing in early periods when the marginal benefits of extraction are increasing sufficiently fast due to climate and technical change compared to the increase in the marginal cost of extraction. In contrast, most previous studies include the stock of groundwater as the only state variable and recommend a monotonically decreasing extraction path. We conduct numerical simulations for a region in Kansas overlying the Ogallala Aquifer and find that optimal groundwater extraction peaks 23 years in the future and the gains from management are large (29.5%). Consistent with previous literature, the predicted gains from management are relatively small (6.1%) when ignoring climate and technical change. The realized gains from management are not substantially impacted by incorrect assumptions of climate and technical change when formulating the optimal plan.

Suggested Citation

  • Quintana Ashwell, Nicolas E. & Peterson, Jeffrey M. & Hendricks, Nathan P., 2018. "Optimal groundwater management under climate change and technical progress," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 67-83.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:resene:v:51:y:2018:i:c:p:67-83
    DOI: 10.1016/j.reseneeco.2017.10.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0928765517300349
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.reseneeco.2017.10.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peterson, Jeffrey M. & Saak, Alexander E., 2013. "Spatial externalities in aquifers with varying thickness: Theory and numerical results for the Ogallala aquifer," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 150553, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    2. Léonard,Daniel & Long,Ngo van, 1992. "Optimal Control Theory and Static Optimization in Economics," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521331586, September.
    3. Eli Feinerman & Keith C. Knapp, 1983. "Benefits from Groundwater Management: Magnitude, Sensitivity, and Distribution," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 65(4), pages 703-710.
    4. Saak, Alexander E. & Peterson, Jeffrey M., 2007. "Groundwater Pumping by Heterogeneous Users," 2007 Annual Meeting, July 29-August 1, 2007, Portland, Oregon 9798, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    5. Hendricks, Nathan P. & Peterson, Jeffrey M., 2012. "Fixed Effects Estimation of the Intensive and Extensive Margins of Irrigation Water Demand," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 37(1), pages 1-19, April.
    6. Saak, Alexander E. & Peterson, Jeffrey M., 2007. "Groundwater use under incomplete information," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 214-228, September.
    7. Agnes Tomini, 2014. "Is the Gisser and Sanchez model too simple to discuss the economic relevance of groundwater management?," Post-Print hal-01463916, HAL.
    8. Pulido-Velazquez, Manuel & Andreu, Joaqui­n & Sahuquillo, Andrés & Pulido-Velazquez, David, 2008. "Hydro-economic river basin modelling: The application of a holistic surface-groundwater model to assess opportunity costs of water use in Spain," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 51-65, May.
    9. Kim, C. S. & Moore, Michael R. & Hanchar, John J. & Nieswiadomy, Michael, 1989. "A dynamic model of adaptation to resource depletion: theory and an application to groundwater mining," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 66-82, July.
    10. de Frutos Cachorro, Julia & Erdlenbruch, Katrin & Tidball, Mabel, 2014. "Optimal adaptation strategies to face shocks on groundwater resources," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 134-153.
    11. Steward, David R. & Allen, Andrew J., 2016. "Peak groundwater depletion in the High Plains Aquifer, projections from 1930 to 2110," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 36-48.
    12. Michael Nieswiadomy, 1985. "The Demand for Irrigation Water in the High Plains of Texas, 1957–80," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 67(3), pages 619-626.
    13. Brozovic, Nicholas & Sunding, David L. & Zilberman, David, 2010. "On the spatial nature of the groundwater pumping externality," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 154-164, April.
    14. repec:ags:jrapmc:122312 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Esteban, Encarna & Albiac, José, 2011. "Groundwater and ecosystems damages: Questioning the Gisser-Sánchez effect," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(11), pages 2062-2069, September.
    16. Burness, H. Stuart & Brill, Thomas C., 2001. "The role for policy in common pool groundwater use," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 19-40, January.
    17. Gisser, Micha, 1983. "Groundwater: Focusing on the Real Issue," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 91(6), pages 1001-1027, December.
    18. Christian Gollier & James K. Hammitt, 2014. "The Long-Run Discount Rate Controversy," Annual Review of Resource Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 6(1), pages 273-295, October.
    19. Jordan F. Suter & Joshua M. Duke & Kent D. Messer & Holly A. Michael, 2012. "Behavior in a Spatially Explicit Groundwater Resource: Evidence from the Lab," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 94(5), pages 1094-1112.
    20. Quintana-Ashwell, Nicolas E. & Featherstone, Allen M., 2014. "Beyond benchmarks: DEA study of Kansas Farm Productivity," 2015 Annual Meeting, January 31-February 3, 2015, Atlanta, Georgia 196857, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    21. Gerard Gaudet & Michel Moreaux & Stephen W. Salant, 2001. "Intertemporal Depletion of Resource Sites by Spatially Distributed Users," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 1149-1159, September.
    22. Guilfoos, Todd & Pape, Andreas D. & Khanna, Neha & Salvage, Karen, 2013. "Groundwater management: The effect of water flows on welfare gains," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 31-40.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Amanda M. Nelson & Nicolas E. Quintana Ashwell & Christopher D. Delhom & Drew M. Gholson, 2022. "Leveraging Big Data to Preserve the Mississippi River Valley Alluvial Aquifer: A Blueprint for the National Center for Alluvial Aquifer Research," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-17, October.
    2. Lee, Juhee & Hendricks, Nathan P., 2022. "Crop Choice Decisions in Response to Soil Salinization on Irrigated Land in California," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322602, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    3. Abbas Roozbahani & Ebrahim Ebrahimi & Mohammad Ebrahim Banihabib, 2018. "A Framework for Ground Water Management Based on Bayesian Network and MCDM Techniques," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 32(15), pages 4985-5005, December.
    4. Lee, Juhee & Hendricks, Nathan, 2022. "Irrigation Decisions in Response to Groundwater Salinity in Kansas," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 47(3), September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rouhi Rad, Mani & Brozović, Nicholas & Foster, Timothy & Mieno, Taro, 2020. "Effects of instantaneous groundwater availability on irrigated agriculture and implications for aquifer management," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    2. Eric C. Edwards & Todd Guilfoos, 2021. "The Economics of Groundwater Governance Institutions across the Globe," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 43(4), pages 1571-1594, December.
    3. Pfeiffer, Lisa & Lin, C.-Y. Cynthia, 2012. "Groundwater pumping and spatial externalities in agriculture," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 16-30.
    4. Amine Chekireb & Julio Goncalves & Hubert Stahn & Agnes Tomini, 2021. "Private exploitation of the North-Western Sahara Aquifer System," Working Papers halshs-03457972, HAL.
    5. Nathaniel H Merrill & Todd Guilfoos, 2018. "Optimal Groundwater Extraction under Uncertainty and a Spatial Stock Externality," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 100(1), pages 220-238.
    6. Pamela Giselle Katic, 2010. "Spatial dynamics and optimal resource extraction," Centre for Water Economics, Environment and Policy Papers 1002, Centre for Water Economics, Environment and Policy, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University.
    7. Guilfoos, Todd & Pape, Andreas D. & Khanna, Neha & Salvage, Karen, 2013. "Groundwater management: The effect of water flows on welfare gains," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 31-40.
    8. Phoebe Koundouri, 2004. "Current Issues in the Economics of Groundwater Resource Management," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(5), pages 703-740, December.
    9. Eric C. Edwards, 2016. "What Lies Beneath? Aquifer Heterogeneity and the Economics of Groundwater Management," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(2), pages 453-491.
    10. Nasim, Sanval & Helfand, Steven & Dinar, Ariel, 2020. "Groundwater management under heterogeneous land tenure arrangements," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    11. Bertone Oehninger, Ernst & Lin Lawell, C.-Y. Cynthia, 2021. "Property rights and groundwater management in the High Plains Aquifer," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    12. Liu, Zhuo & Suter, Jordan F. & Messer, Kent D. & Duke, Joshua M. & Michael, Holly A., 2014. "Strategic entry and externalities in groundwater resources: Evidence from the lab," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 181-197.
    13. Phoebe Koundouri, 2003. "Potential for groundwater management: Gisser-Sanchez effect reconsidered," DEOS Working Papers 0307, Athens University of Economics and Business.
    14. Sayre, Susan Stratton & Taraz, Vis, 2019. "Groundwater depletion in India: Social losses from costly well deepening," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 85-100.
    15. Pamela Katic, 2015. "Groundwater Spatial Dynamics and Endogenous Well Location," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 29(1), pages 181-196, January.
    16. Ayres, Andrew B. & Edwards, Eric C. & Libecap, Gary D., 2018. "How transaction costs obstruct collective action: The case of California's groundwater," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 46-65.
    17. Marta Biancardi & Gianluca Iannucci & Giovanni Villani, 2023. "Groundwater management and illegality in a differential-evolutionary framework," Computational Management Science, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 1-17, December.
    18. Knapp, Keith C. & Baerenklau, Kenneth A., 2006. "Ground Water Quantity and Quality Management: Agricultural Production and Aquifer Salinization over Long Time Scales," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 31(3), pages 1-26, December.
    19. Jean-Christophe Pereau & Lauriane Mouysset & Luc Doyen, 2018. "Groundwater Management in a Food Security Context," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 71(2), pages 319-336, October.
    20. Peterson, Jeffrey M. & Saak, Alexander E., 2013. "Spatial externalities in aquifers with varying thickness: Theory and numerical results for the Ogallala aquifer," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 150553, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:resene:v:51:y:2018:i:c:p:67-83. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/505569 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.