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ARS Home » Plains Area » Bushland, Texas » Conservation and Production Research Laboratory » Soil and Water Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #307305
Title: Potential economic impacts of water-use changes in southwest Kansas

Author
item GOLDEN, BILL - Kansas State University
item JOHNSON, JEFF - Texas Tech University

Submitted to: Natural Resources
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/23/2013
Publication Date: 7/1/2013
Citation: Golden, B., Johnson, J. 2013. Potential economic impacts of water-use changes in southwest Kansas. Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research. 5(2-3):129-145.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: This research considers three policy scenarios aimed at reducing groundwater consumption in three high priority subareas of southwest Kansas. The three policy scenarios include: (1) a Status Quo scenario where there is no change in water-use policy, (2) an Immediate Conversion to Dryland scenario where all groundwater pumping is halted, and (3) a Reallocation scenario, which allows only a 40% reduction in saturated thickness in 25 years. Each policy scenario is simulated under normal versus drought weather conditions. Results suggest that, from both a community and producer perspective, groundwater conservation policy can generate positive economic gains.