Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

These meetings were the 1st annual meetings of the new W1190. Monday afternoon (October 11) was devoted to: (1) organizational matters; (2) presentations by Glenn Schaible (ERS) on the key research elements of the new W1190 project, LeRoy Daugherty (W1190 Administrative Advisor) on the Regional Research Committee process, and Ray Huffaker (WSU) on USDAs REE Water Security Program; and (3) State research reports. Glenn Schaible reviewed the W1190 regional research project objectives, products, and research agenda. LeRoy Daugherty emphasized several key tenets of the Western Regional Research Committee process, including: (1) the roles of the Western Experiment Station Directors and CSREES; and (2) the need for strong emphasis on linked activities across States and the need for annual reports to highlight the impact of accomplishments. Ray Huffaker summarized the proceedings of the USDA-sponsored Listening Session on the REE mission area Agricultural Water Security, held September 9-10, 2004, Park City, UT. Key questions the session addressed included: (1) what is agricultural water security? (2) What are USDA research needs in this area? (3) Where do knowledge gaps exist? (4) What are the likely strategies for USDA to get there? (5) Is there a need for a USDA research program in agricultural water security? As the first meeting of the W1190, Tuesday, October 12, was devoted to organizational-based Product Work Sessions, followed by Product Summary Sessions for each of the W1190 Proposal Products. Concurrent work group sessions were held for Products 2 & 3, and then for Product 4. Product 1-- Soil Measurement Methods to Rapidly Monitor the Impact of Basin-Scale Water Management Decisions. Product 2-- Farm-Size Characteristics, Economics, and Institutions are Central to the Design of Agricultural Water Conservation Programs. Product 3-- Effects of Water Policy on Agricultural Production Risks. Product 4-- Water Laws and Institutions for the American West. Meeting participants attended at least two Product Work Sessions and all participants attended follow-up Product Summary Sessions. [No Product 1 Work Session was held because the original product organizer (leader) moved from CSU to a job with the Utah State government. (A search will be conducted for a new Product 1 Leader following the annual meetings.)] Each of the Product Work Sessions held discussions on a broad range of product research issues, but with a particular focus on the following issues. 1. Clarify the groups understanding of the products research agenda. 2. Identify conceptual and empirical research issues. 3. Identify/clarify data sources, availability, and problems. 4. Identify specific research tasks to accomplish product research milestones. 5. Flush-out specific policy analyses and desired impact assessments. 6. Identify specific and shared State research and data responsibilities. Product 2 Work Session discussions emphasized the need for the research to address: (1) whether small (low resource) irrigated farms have been cut out of the governments technology adoption- based conservation programs; (2) whether differences in conservation program participation can be attributed to farm tenure characteristics; (3) the integration of regional hydrology into models evaluating farm-level adjustments to conservation policy alternatives (allowing these models to account for basin-wide hydrologic effects); and (4) implications of alternative definitions of what is agricultural water conservation. The group discussed producer behavioral-adjustment characteristics of various aggregate programming and more micro econometric modeling approaches developed at ERS, CSU, KSU, and UNL. Ray Huffaker, WSU, will develop a white paper summarizing a literature review of case studies using farm-level models with and without hydrologic relationships. This literature review will help point the direction to creating a cell-type model that incorporates basin-level hydrologic relationships appropriate for capturing return-flow effects of alternative policy options. In addition, Daryl Martin, UNL, was suggested as a likely candidate to provide the project with the expertise to address how to link economic/hydrologic models in targeted case studies examining conjunctive-use linkages. Product 3 Work Session discussions emphasized the need to extend ERSs RMA-funded research addressing irrigated agriculture production risks associated with Federally-imposed water-supply restrictions to a broader set of water-supply conflicts across the Western States. This broader set of conflicts could encompass urban, recreational, Native American, and even interstate water allocation conflicts. A set of criteria would need to be established to evaluate and rank alternative conflicts, identifying the nature of the conflict, their hydrologic and geographic scope, as well as their social, political, and institutional setting. The discussion suggested a two-pronged approach to furthering this research area. One, conducting a review of study results from the ERS RMA-funded projects to help identify both research problems and solutions in addressing the myriad of potential water conflicts across the West. Two, conduct a survey of W1190 participants (and any additional notable interested Western water experts) on the characteristics of higher-priority water conflicts, with particular focus on those conflicts where production risks are largely attributable to conjunctive-use based water-supply conditions. Product 4 Work Session discussions addressed the need for research on Western water laws and institutions from both a broad inventory perspective, and the need for more focused analysis of a myriad of legal/institutional issues. From a broad inventory perspective, the need was identified for a systematic analysis of existing Western States water laws and institutions, their common attributes and differences, where knowledge gaps exist in addressing quantity/quality issues, the regionally-different role transaction costs play in promoting change, and the likely priority institutional changes needed to address regionally-unique water conflict issues. From a more focused issue perspective, the group highlighted the relative importance of a number of issues, including: (1) identifying regionally-unique impediments to institutional change and water reallocation; (2) addressing the legal/institutional changes required for local water-management firms to effectively manage water reallocations; (3) addressing the regionally-unique aspects of conjunctive-use issues; (4) reviewing the key institutional aspects associated with addressing TMDL-based water quality goals with an emphasis on the impediments to water quality trading; (5) reviewing the institutional issues associated with administering instream flow rights, with a particular focus on alternative enforcement mechanisms in water-short years; and (6) identifying the varied institutional aspects of water markets versus insurance policies used as risk-management mitigation tools during water-supply shortfalls. The group also highlighted the importance of identifying the necessary set of objective and subjective criteria required to assess the potential effectiveness of alternative legal/institutional changes across differing hydrologic, social, economic, and environmental conditions. The emphasis here should be on descriptive rather than prescriptive criteria. Finally, do to the wide range of potentially relevant institutional issues; Product 4 participants suggested that the group focus its research on evaluating the legal/institutional aspects of alternative conjunctive-use environments, including assessing how to empirically implement conjunctive-use institutions, i.e., link economic models with hydrologic models that account for connected surface/ground water relationships. Bob Hearne, NDSU, will develop a white paper evaluating the status and effectiveness of existing water quality institutions, emphasizing key regional differences (west versus east). Business Meeting Summary 1. Marshall Frasier, CSU, and LeRoy Daugherty, W1190 Administrative Advisor, would search out how to proceed with leadership for Product 1. Both would be in contact with Grant Cardon to discuss either finding a replacement Project Leader or how Grant would continue leading this products research agenda. Ari Michelson, Texas A&M, would contribute to this effort. 2. Ray Supalla, UNL, would Chair a subcommittee charged with completing the W190 final report. 3. The 2005 W1190 meetings were set for October 17-19, 2005 in Las Cruces, NM (to precede the New Mexico Water Institutes 50th Annual Water Conference (October 19-21, 2005). 4. Brian Hurd, NMSU was selected as the 2005 W1190 Secretary. New 2005 W1190 Officers are: Chair: Jeff Peterson, KSU Vice-Chair: Eric Schuck, CSU Secretary: Brian Hurd, NMSU

The following accomplishments were from W-190, the previous committee: Objective 1. Accomplishments Management practices for reducing water pollution from irrigated agriculture were evaluated by scientists in Colorado, Texas, Nebraska and ERS, with emphasis on salinity and nitrates. Colorado established a program to monitor and analyze the implications of soil salinization in the Lower Arkansas Basin as farm management practices change in response to the Compact settlement between Kansas and Colorado. Texas found that the amount of N in runoff was minimized using a shallow soil, low N treatment and variable rate application, and also that a banding application of atrazine was more effective at reducing atrazine runoff than conservation tillage. Nebraska found that it is economically-feasible to reduce nitrate pollution of groundwater within a 50-year time frame by decreasing nitrogen and water applied, shifting from gravity to sprinkler systems, and shifting to more alfalfa and less corn production. ERS found that there would be significant environmental spillovers from implementing livestock waste management plans as described in the US-EPA/USDA Unified Strategy for Animal Feeding Operations. Management strategies for irrigating with limited water supplies were evaluated by Kansas and Nebraska. Kansas found that pre-season irrigation was a dominant strategy for a wide range of well capacities and risk attitudes. Nebraska found that when water supplies were policy limited to about 85 percent of a full supply producers should continue to irrigate the same amount of corn and soybeans at a reduced application level rather than reducing irrigated area or shifting to more drought tolerant crops. Objective 2. Accomplishments Scientists from ERS, California, Washington, New Mexico, Colorado and Nebraska collaborated on an analysis of the production risks associated with federal water policy decisions funded by RMA, USDA. The endangered species versus irrigation tradeoffs associated with the Klamath Basin water conflict were analyzed by scientists from Oregon and California. Scientists in Idaho and Washington analyzed the economics of salmon recovery programs. Scientists in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona estimated the foregone benefits of supplying water for endangered species. Policy options for meeting the in-stream flow requirements for endangered species in the Platte River Basin were analyzed by Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming. New Mexico scientists investigated water conservation options for households and found that the adoption of water-conserving landscapes by New Mexico residents could yield benefits of approximately 25-50 thousand acre-feet per year. ERS analyzed irrigation technology transitions in the Central Great Plains and found that crop-price effects on technology transitions are relatively small and slow to occur. Objective 3. Accomplishments Institutional options for managing water use conflict were analyzed by Arizona, Nebraska, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico and Washington. Arizona compared the effectiveness of market transactions versus administrative or judicial water reallocation to address changing water demands in different cases. Nebraska found that game bargaining models offered some potential for resolving interstate disputes over the allocation of water in the Platte Basin. Hawaii studied the evolution, structure, and performance of water institutions in Hawaii and compared and contrasted them to experiences in other states in the western U.S. The potential for achieving water conservation through alternative institutional and water pricing options was evaluated by Washington, Texas, New Mexico, Idaho and Hawaii. Water marketing research in California, Nebraska and Arizona found that most state water marketing institutions were not yet well developed but had a great deal of potential for producing greater efficiency in the allocation of water to alternative uses. Many of the results from this institutional research on water were summarized and integrated in a special issue of the International Journal of Water Resources Development titled Institutional Innovations in Western Water Management, edited by Chennat Gopalakrishnan, University of Hawaii.

Aillery, M., N. Gollehon, G. Schaible, M. Roberts, and W. Quinby. Policy Directions to Mitigate Water-Supply Risk in Irrigated Agriculture: A Federal Perspective. A Selected Paper presented at the American Agricultural Economics Association meetings in Denver, CO, August 1-4, 2004. Brown, C., A. Granados, J. Greenlee, M. Hendrie, and B.H. Hurd. Developing Indicators of Water Resource Vulnerability in the Paso del Norte Region. Paper presented at the 2004 annual Conference of the Universities Council on Water Resources (UCOWR), Portland, Oregon, July 20-22, 2004, Coleman, E. Determinants of Residential Water Conservation: The Case of Salt Lake City, Utah. M.S. Thesis, Utah State University, August 2004. Easterling, W.J., B.H. Hurd, and J.B. Smith. Coping With Climatic Change: The Role of Adaptation in the United States. Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Arlington, VA, 2004. Garbett, D. Water to the Masses: Municipal Water Issues in Utah. M.S. Thesis, Utah State University, December 2003. Huffaker, R.G., N. Whittlesey, and J. Hamilton. Irrigated Agriculture and Endangered Species Policy. Encyclopedia of Water Science. Marcel Dekker, Inc. 2003. Huffaker, R.G., and N. Whittlesey. A Theoretical Analysis of Economic Incentive Policies Encouraging Agricultural Water Conservation. International Journal of Water Resources Development (March 2003):37-53. Hurd, B.H. and J.M. Callaway with J.B. Smith and P.Kirshen. Climatic Change and U.S. Water Resources: From Modeled Watershed Impacts to National Estimates. Journal of the American Water Resources Association. 40(2004): 129-148. Hurd, B.H. Residential Water Conservation: Landscape Attitudes and Choices. Paper presented at the Community Water Conference, Water Conservation: Protecting Our Most Valued Treasure, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Aug. 31-Sept. 2, 2004. Johansson, R.C. and J.D. Kaplan. A Carrot and Stick Approach to Environmental Improvement: Marrying Agri-Environmental Payments and Water Quality Regulations. Agriculture and Resource Economics Review 31(2004): 91-104. Johansson, R.C., P. H. Gowda, D. Mulla, and B. Dalzell. Metamodeling Phosphorus BMPs for Policy Use: A Frontier Approach. Agricultural Economics 30(2004): 63-74. Jorgenson, D. Goettle, R., B.H. Hurd, J. Smith, L. Chestnut, and D. Mills. Market Consequences and Climate Change: A U.S. Perspective. Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Arlington, VA, 2004. Kaplan, J.D., R.C. Johansson, and M.A. Peters. The Manure Hits the Land: Economic and Environmental Implications When Land Application of Nutrients is Constrained. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 86(2004): 688-700. Keith, J.E. Impacts of the Water Policy Reform Program. Chapter 9 in G. Ender and J.S. Holtzman (editors), Does Agricultural Policy Reform Work? USAID and Abt Associates, 2003. Koteen, J., S. Alexander, and J. Loomis. Evaluating Benefits and Costs of Changes in Water Quality. Gen. Tech. Rep. PNW-GTR-548. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station. Portland, OR. Loomis, J., K. Quattlebaum, T.C. Brown and S. J. Alexander. Expanding Institutional Arrangements for Acquiring Water for Environmental Purposes: Transactions Evidence for the Western United States. International Journal of Water Resources Development. 19(March 2003): 21-28. Peterson, J.M. and R.N. Boisvert. Incentive Compatible Pollution Control Policies under Asymmetric Information on Both Risk Preferences and Technology. American Journal of Agricultural Economics 86(May 2004): 291-306 Ramanhi, T. Effects of Water Supply Adjustments on Farm Returns and Resource Use: Findings from the Rio Grande Basin. M.S. Thesis, New Mexico State University, May 2004. Raucher, R.S., J. Goldstein, A. Huber-Lee, W. DeOreo, P. Mayer, B.H. Hurd, R. Linsky, E. Means, and M. Renwick. 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. Ribaudo, M. "Dead Zone in the Gulf: Addressing Agriculture's Contribution." Amber Waves, Vol. 1, Issue 5, Economic Research Service, USDA, November 2003. Schaible, G.D. Western Irrigation Characteristics by Farm Size. An ERS Data Product including 147 Excel spreadsheet tables summarizing 1998 FRIS data by farm-size class by State (for 17 western States). Economic Research Service, USDA, June 2004. Schaible, G.D. Irrigation, Water Conservation, and Farm Size in the Western United States. Amber Waves, Findings, Vol. 2, Issue 3, Economic Research Service, USDA, June 2004. Ward, F.A., B.H. Hurd, and T. Ramanhi. Effects of Water Supply Adjustments on Farm Returns and Resource Use: Findings from the Rio Grande Basin. Final report. Cooperative Agreement 43-3AEL-2-80125 between New Mexico State University and USDA, Economic Research Service. October 2004. Ward, F.A. and L. DeMouche. Optimizing Resource Management Decisions at New Mexico State Parks. Final Report. New Mexico State Parks Department, October 2004.