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A Tale of Two Roads: Groundwater Depletion in the North China Plain

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Listed:
  • Ujjayant Chakravorty
  • Xiangzheng Deng
  • Yazhen Gong
  • Martino Pelli
  • Qian Zhang

Abstract

There is a large literature on the role infrastructure plays in economic development, but few papers document the effect of infrastructure on the sustainability of natural resources. We examine the effect of the arrival of two new national highways on ground water levels in a small agricultural county in the North China Plain - a region that produces most of the nation’s food grains. We first develop a conceptual framework to show that farmers located closer to the highways devote more acreage to crops that are water intensive. We then use a unique GIS-referenced dataset of all the 12,160 tube wells in this county to show that highway construction accelerates the drilling of new wells in farms closer to the highway. In addition, there is greater depletion of the groundwater in wells closer to the two highways relative to wells located farther away. Our estimated depletion rates near the two roads are at least 5 times higher relative to mean depletion rates in the North China Plain. We show suggestive evidence that depletion is caused by a switch from subsistence to commercial cropping, and intensification of farming practices closer to the highway. These results suggest that the resource cost of new infrastructure building may be significant and needs to be incorporated in benefit-cost analysis. Il existe une abondante littérature sur le rôle que jouent les infrastructures dans le développement économique, mais peu d'articles documentent l'effet des infrastructures sur la durabilité des ressources naturelles. Nous examinons l'effet de l'arrivée de deux nouvelles routes nationales sur le niveau des eaux souterraines dans un petit comté agricole de la plaine de Chine du Nord, une région qui produit la plupart des céréales alimentaires du pays. Nous développons d'abord un cadre conceptuel pour montrer que les agriculteurs situés plus près des autoroutes consacrent plus de surface aux cultures à forte intensité d'eau. Nous utilisons ensuite un ensemble unique de données référencées par le SIG sur les 12 160 puits tubulaires de ce comté pour montrer que la construction de l'autoroute accélère le forage de nouveaux puits dans les exploitations agricoles situées à proximité de l'autoroute. En outre, l'épuisement des eaux souterraines est plus important dans les puits situés à proximité des deux autoroutes que dans les puits situés plus loin. Les taux d'épuisement estimés à proximité des deux routes sont au moins cinq fois plus élevés que les taux d'épuisement moyens dans la plaine de Chine du Nord. Nous montrons que l'épuisement est dû au passage d'une culture de subsistance à une culture commerciale et à l'intensification des pratiques agricoles à proximité de l'autoroute. Ces résultats suggèrent que le coût en ressources de la construction de nouvelles infrastructures peut être significatif et doit être intégré dans l'analyse coûts-avantages.

Suggested Citation

  • Ujjayant Chakravorty & Xiangzheng Deng & Yazhen Gong & Martino Pelli & Qian Zhang, 2023. "A Tale of Two Roads: Groundwater Depletion in the North China Plain," CIRANO Working Papers 2023s-17, CIRANO.
  • Handle: RePEc:cir:cirwor:2023s-17
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Infrastructure; Roads; North China Plain; Water Resources; sustainability; Infrastructure; Routes; Plaine de Chine du Nord; Ressources en eau; Durabilité;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O13 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Agriculture; Natural Resources; Environment; Other Primary Products
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • Q25 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Water

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