IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fem/femwpa/2015.07.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Water Flows in the Economy. An Input-output Framework to Assess Water Productivity in the Castile and León Region (Spain)

Author

Listed:
  • C. Dionisio Pérez Blanco

    (University of Alcalá (UAH) and Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies in Water Technologies (IMDEA-Water), Madrid (Spain))

  • Thomas Thaler

    (Flood Hazard Research Center (FHRC), Middlesex University, London (United Kingdom))

Abstract

Traditionally, water policy has focused on coordinating the public effort required to fuel economic growth by supplying water services demanded as a result of the progress in the many areas of the economy. Under this supply-oriented paradigm, population growth and the improvement of living standards brought about by development have driven water demand up and the pressures over water resources have escalated. The failure to acknowledge the limited availability of water and to decouple economic development from water demand has resulted in a water dependent growth model that in many areas is currently threatened by increasing scarcity and more frequent and intense droughts. Consequently, there is an urgent need to use sparse water resources in a sustainable and efficient way. This demands a comprehensive assessment of water productivity dynamics as well as of the linkages among economic sectors in order to calculate the actual costs of eventual water reallocations to the environment and establish priorities in the design of strategic actions such as river basin or drought management plans. However, available studies only offer static analyses that are insufficient to attain the dual objective of reverting current water scarcity trends without impairing economic growth. This paper develops a methodology based on the Hypothetical Extraction Method to estimate inter-temporal indirect (i.e., including intersectoral linkages) water productivity values. The method is applied in the Spanish region of Castile and León for the period 2000-2006. The intensive use and the low water productivity found for agriculture confirms the intuition that this sector has to play a fundamental role in any water saving policy. However, the relevant linkages between agriculture and the rest of the economy, which acts as an indirect consumer of water for irrigation, may complicate the finding of a Pareto improvement in water allocation. Results also show increasing returns to scale in the manufacturing industry and the service sector, which may be regarded as an evidence of the existence of a Verdoorn’s Law for water.

Suggested Citation

  • C. Dionisio Pérez Blanco & Thomas Thaler, 2015. "Water Flows in the Economy. An Input-output Framework to Assess Water Productivity in the Castile and León Region (Spain)," Working Papers 2015.07, Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei.
    • Handle: RePEc:fem:femwpa:2015.07
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://feem-media.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/NDL2015-007.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Molden, D., 1997. "Accounting for water use and productivity," IWMI Books, Reports H021374, International Water Management Institute.
    2. Perry, C. J., 1996. "The IIMI water balance framework: a model for project level analysis," IWMI Research Reports H019241, International Water Management Institute.
    3. Playan, Enrique & Mateos, Luciano, 2006. "Modernization and optimization of irrigation systems to increase water productivity," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 80(1-3), pages 100-116, February.
    4. Molden, David J., 1997. "Accounting for water use and productivity," IWMI Books, International Water Management Institute, number 113623.
    5. Manfred Lenzen, 2011. "Aggregation Versus Disaggregation In Input-Output Analysis Of The Environment," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(1), pages 73-89.
    6. Zwart, Sander J. & Bastiaanssen, Wim G.M., 2007. "SEBAL for detecting spatial variation of water productivity and scope for improvement in eight irrigated wheat systems," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 89(3), pages 287-296, May.
    7. Zhuoying Zhang & Minjun Shi & Hong Yang & Ashok Chapagain, 2011. "An Input--Output Analysis Of Trends In Virtual Water Trade And The Impact On Water Resources And Uses In China," Economic Systems Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(4), pages 431-446, October.
    8. Cella, Guido, 1984. "The Input-Output Measurement of Interindustry Linkages," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 46(1), pages 73-84, February.
    9. Wesseling, J.G. & Feddes, R.A., 2006. "Assessing crop water productivity from field to regional scale," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 86(1-2), pages 30-39, November.
    10. J. S·nchez-ChÛliz & R. Duarte, 2003. "Analysing pollution by way of vertically integrated coefficients, with an application to the water sector in Aragon," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 27(3), pages 433-448, May.
    11. Erik Dietzenbacher & Esther Velazquez, 2007. "Analysing Andalusian Virtual Water Trade in an Input-Output Framework," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(2), pages 185-196.
    12. Rathore, A. L. & Pal, A. R. & Sahu, R. K. & Chaudhary, J. L., 1996. "On-farm rainwater and crop management for improving productivity of rainfed areas," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(3), pages 253-267, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Li, Xiaolin & Tong, Ling & Niu, Jun & Kang, Shaozhong & Du, Taisheng & Li, Sien & Ding, Risheng, 2017. "Spatio-temporal distribution of irrigation water productivity and its driving factors for cereal crops in Hexi Corridor, Northwest China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 55-63.
    2. Cai, Ximing & Yang, Yi-Chen E. & Ringler, Claudia & Zhao, Jianshi & You, Liangzhi, 2011. "Agricultural water productivity assessment for the Yellow River Basin," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(8), pages 1297-1306, May.
    3. Xue, Jingyuan & Huo, Zailin & Kisekka, Isaya, 2021. "Assessing impacts of climate variability and changing cropping patterns on regional evapotranspiration, yield and water productivity in California’s San Joaquin watershed," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 250(C).
    4. Haorui Chen & Zhanyi Gao & Wenzhi Zeng & Jing Liu & Xiao Tan & Songjun Han & Shaoli Wang & Yongqing Zhao & Chengkun Yu, 2017. "Scale Effects of Water Saving on Irrigation Efficiency: Case Study of a Rice-Based Groundwater Irrigation System on the Sanjiang Plain, Northeast China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-18, December.
    5. Huang, Feng & Li, Baoguo, 2010. "Assessing grain crop water productivity of China using a hydro-model-coupled-statistics approach: Part I: Method development and validation," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(7), pages 1077-1092, July.
    6. Seckler, D. & Molden, D. & Sakthivadivel, R., 2003. "The concept of efficiency in water resources management and policy," IWMI Books, Reports H032634, International Water Management Institute.
    7. Huang, Feng & Li, Baoguo, 2010. "Assessing grain crop water productivity of China using a hydro-model-coupled-statistics approach. Part II: Application in breadbasket basins of China," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 97(9), pages 1259-1268, September.
    8. Salvador, R. & Martínez-Cob, A. & Cavero, J. & Playán, E., 2011. "Seasonal on-farm irrigation performance in the Ebro basin (Spain): Crops and irrigation systems," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 98(4), pages 577-587, February.
    9. Ehsan Qasemipour & Ali Abbasi & Farhad Tarahomi, 2020. "Water-Saving Scenarios Based on Input–Output Analysis and Virtual Water Concept: A Case in Iran," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, January.
    10. Mohammad Alauddin & Upali A. Amarasinghe & Bharat R. Sharma, 2014. "Four decades of rice water productivity in Bangladesh: A spatio-temporal analysis of district level panel data," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 51-64.
    11. Lee, Teang Shui & Haque, M. Aminul & Najim, M.M.M., 2005. "Scheduling the cropping calendar in wet-seeded rice schemes in Malaysia," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 71(1), pages 71-84, January.
    12. Barros, R. & Isidoro, D. & Aragüés, R., 2011. "Long-term water balances in La Violada irrigation district (Spain): I. Sequential assessment and minimization of closing errors," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 102(1), pages 35-45.
    13. Zamani, Omid & Azadi, Hossein & Mortazavi, Seyed Abolghasem & Balali, Hamid & Moghaddam, Saghi Movahhed & Jurik, Lubos, 2021. "The impact of water-pricing policies on water productivity: Evidence of agriculture sector in Iran," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    14. Venot, Jean-Philippe & Sharma, Bharat R. & Rao, K. V. G. K., 2008. "The lower Krishna Basin trajectory: relationships between basin development and downstream environmental degradation," IWMI Research Reports H041463, International Water Management Institute.
    15. Kang, Shaozhong & Hao, Xinmei & Du, Taisheng & Tong, Ling & Su, Xiaoling & Lu, Hongna & Li, Xiaolin & Huo, Zailin & Li, Sien & Ding, Risheng, 2017. "Improving agricultural water productivity to ensure food security in China under changing environment: From research to practice," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 5-17.
    16. Zhang, Chao & Xie, Ziang & Wang, Qiaojuan & Tang, Min & Feng, Shaoyuan & Cai, Huanjie, 2022. "AquaCrop modeling to explore optimal irrigation of winter wheat for improving grain yield and water productivity," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    17. Mitter, Hermine & Schmid, Erwin, 2019. "Computing the economic value of climate information for water stress management exemplified by crop production in Austria," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 430-448.
    18. Dennis Wichelns, 2015. "Water productivity and water footprints are not helpful in determining optimal water allocations or efficient management strategies," Water International, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(7), pages 1059-1070, November.
    19. Sandhu, Rupinder & Irmak, Suat, 2022. "Effects of subsurface drip-irrigated soybean seeding rates on grain yield, evapotranspiration and water productivity under limited and full irrigation and rainfed conditions," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 267(C).
    20. Ahmad, M.D. & Turral, H. & Nazeer, A., 2009. "Diagnosing irrigation performance and water productivity through satellite remote sensing and secondary data in a large irrigation system of Pakistan," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 96(4), pages 551-564, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Environmental Input-output Modeling; Verdoorn’s Law; Water Management; Productivity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q25 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Water
    • Q28 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Government Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:fem:femwpa:2015.07. 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: Alberto Prina Cerai (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/feemmit.html .

    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.