Progress 12/01/94 to 09/30/04
Outputs
OBJECTIVE 1: Contributions toward this objective include the assessment by Hurd of outdoor water use by urban/suburban turf growers and their attitudes and preferences toward crop switching and other management strategies. Ward and Hurd investigated the implications of aggregate farm-level behavior on the distribution and use of water in the Rio Grande basin. In particular, investigating the impacts of alternative levels of water supply and the potential impacts of maintaining specified instream flows for endangered species protection. OBJECTIVE 2: Hurd utilized a novel approach to the valuation of the urban landscape using discrete-choice methodologies. The analysis of user attitudes and preferences succeeded in an evaluation of landscape preferences that so importantly drive outdoor water use. OBJECTIVE 3: The law of the river compact, such as the Rio Grande Compact, is often blunt in the ability to respond to the pressures and stressors that confront modern-day
resource managers. Ward and Hurd propelled the analysis of institutions and their design by investigating the combined effects of water supply and endangered species regulation on the flows and economic benefits derived by Rio Grande River users. Key findings include: 1) Economic Damages rise at an increasing rate with basin-wide supply reductions 2) Water use and benefits for municipal water use are affected by less than one percent of existing quantities, while agricultural use quantities and benefits bear the greater burden because of much higher price elasticities of demand and considerable lower economic value at the margin. 3) The marginal economic value of water is equalized across all users within each state; however, the compact constraints mean that the economic burden of water shortages is not uniformly distributed among states.
Impacts
Measured in terms of changes in the amount of water diverted and impacts on the regional and state economy, there are significant effects by altering the current pattern of water use in New Mexico. The combined effect of reduced supply and increased instream flows can result in losses, primarily in agriculture, of nearly $14 million.
Publications
- Raucher, R.S., J. Goldstein, A. Huber-Lee, W. DeOreo, P. Mayer, B.H. Hurd, R. Linsky, E. Means, M. Renwick. 2004. The Value of Water: Concepts, Measures, and Empirical Evidence, And Their Application to Water Management Decisions, American Water Works Association Research Foundation, Report for project #2855. June 4, 2004.
- Hurd, B.H. and J.M. Callaway with J.B. Smith and P.Kirshen. 2004. Climatic Change and U.S. Water Resources: From Modeled Watershed Impacts to National Estimates. Journal of the American Water Resources Association. 40(1): 129-148.
- Easterling, W.J., B.H. Hurd, and J.B. Smith. 2004. Coping With Climatic Change: The Role of Adaptation in the United States, Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Arlington, VA. 40 p.
- Jorgenson, D. Goettle, R., B.H. Hurd, J. Smith, L. Chestnut, D. Mills. 2004. Market Consequences and Climate Change: A U.S. Perspective, Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Arlington, VA. 67 p.
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Progress 01/01/03 to 12/31/03
Outputs
1) Model investigations of water supply changes on the Rio Grande in conjunction with Texas A&M University. Preliminary findings show that irrigators in the Middle Rio Grande are vulnerable to potential decreases in water availability. 2) Research is underway to design and implement a survey of single-family homeowners to identify their landscape preferences and measure their WTP to install water-saving landscapes. 3) Investigations were conducted of potential response programs in the event of catastrophic loss of access to freshwater supplies. Program results presented to conference participants on Water Security in the 21st Century in Washington D.C. 4) Investigation continued of the adjudication of water rights in the Lower Rio Grande aimed at discovering some of the key institutional provisions that affect incentives and strategic behavior. 5) A multi-disciplinary research team has just initiated a project through the assistance of the National Water Resources
Institute and an expert panel to broadly examine key barriers in water resource planning and management to the recognition of a broader spectrum of water values. 6) I estimated national impacts by using a set of watershed allocation and impact models for selected river basins in the United States. 7) I continued efforts to investigate and report findings on the potential for climate change to impact the national economy and the potential adaptive response of various economic sectors to mitigate adverse impacts and leverage beneficial changes.
Impacts
The project has had several varied and measurable impacts during the past year, including numerous presentations, publications, research proposals, and funding opportunities for students. A principal objective and measurable impact is the improvement of the water management capability of the Nation, State, and local community. My research focuses on the development of management tools and the dissemination of information that is useful in promoting wise and reasoned water use, investment, and infrastructure development. Collaborative efforts have continued as described in the research progress given above and as indicated in the publications and presentations given below. Given the importance of the ongoing, drought, the impact of this research program has received elevated attention, which is indicated by the level of interest in my research program and findings and in the interest in water program curricula at the university.
Publications
- B.H. Hurd, J.A. Diemer and R.C. Alvarez. 2003. Enhancing the Nation's Response to Public Water Supply Catastrophes. Proceedings of the conference Water Security in the 21st Century, jointly sponsored by the Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR), National Institute of Water Resources (NIWR), and Environmental and Water Resource Institute (EWRI), Washington D.C. July 30-August 1, 2003.
- Loomis, J.B., J. Koteen, B.H. Hurd. 2003. Water Resource Effects of Climate Change. in Water and Climate: Climate Variability and Water Resources in the Interior West, William Lewis Jr. (ed.), University of Colorado Press, Boulder, CO, pp. 235-249.
- Smith, J.B., J. Lazo, and B.H. Hurd. 2003. The Difficulties of Estimating Global Non-Market Damages From Climate Change. Chapter 6 in Global Climate Change: The Science, Economics, and Politics, ed. James Griffin, Edward Elgar Publishing, pp: 114-139.
- Ojima, D.S., W.E. Easterling, W.J. Parton, R. Kelly, B. McCarl, L. Bohren, K. Galvin, and B. Hurd. 2003. Integration of ecosystem and economic factors determining land use in the central Great Plains. Book Chapter in P. Puntenney (ed.) A Lasting Impression: Interpreting the Human Dimension of Global Environmental Issues. Lynne Reinner Press, Boulder, CO.
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Progress 01/01/02 to 12/31/02
Outputs
This research is building on two complementary foundations. The first is based on the development of watershed optimization models that examine the economic tradeoffs between alternative water uses, various institutional structures, and infrastructure changes. This year progress has been made in the capability of extrapolating individual watershed results to a national scale. This is important in the ability to effectively characterize long-term changes in water supply related to possible climatic changes. Research continues to improve the capability of these models to indicate preferences for water resource and institutional development, and to link these models with important water use sectors such as agriculture. A second area of progress has been the description and characterization of water supply reliability. Notions of 'reliability' are often included in mission statements for water projects, such as the California Bay-Delta Project. However, there is no
consensus on how to define and measure reliability in the context of long-term supplies. Progress was achieved in developing a taxonomy of reliability concepts and their conceptual relationships. More work is needed to develop useful measurements to meaningfully reflect differences in reliability.
Impacts
Water is one of the most critical resources of the State and region. It sustains many of the State's existing industries and its populations. Improved institutions and a better understanding of the value of water can provide significant monetary and nonmonetary benefits.
Publications
- McCarl, B.A., R.M. Adams, and B.H. Hurd. 2002. "Global Climate Change and Its Impact on Agriculture," in the Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems, Institute of Economics Academia Sinica, and UNESCO, www.eolss.net.
- Hurd, B., October 2002. "Valuing Superfund Site Cleanup: Evidence of Recovering Stigmatized Property Values," The Appraisal Journal, 70(4):426-437.
- Hurd, B.H., Frank A. Ward, and Leeann DeMouche. July 2002. "Some Perspectives on the Economics of Surface- and Ground-Water Adjudication," in Ground Water/Surface Water Interactions. AWRA 2002 Summer Specialty Conference Proceedings, Kenny, Jerry F. (ed.), American Water Resources Association, Middleburg, VA, TPS-02-2, pp: 91-96.
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