Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

10/12/2006 Morning Session I Brian discussed the need for new faces, members from other states, and new interdisciplinary collaboration. Ari suggested that soils scientists would be great. Brian reviewed the agenda and the progress report, with the need to report activities, products, and impacts. Ray Huffaker discussed Seattle and dinner plans were made. LeRoy discussed funding and proposals to modify Hatch funds and formula funding. Each state is obligated to spend ¼ of its funds on interdisciplinary , multistate projects. Past efforts to realign were thwarted. Reforms of Hatch have not been through the Senate. Deans and AES directors have proposed to place USDA research funding, ARS, ERS, and CSREES, though one agency, ie NSF, reporting through Sec AG., and double budget. Grow funding for research portfolio ¾ competitive, and ¼ base (Hatch). IF Hatch funds are lost things will change drastically. The group discussed impacts of work. Benefits are years away. Brian mentioned the absence of ERS collaboration which has limited progress on the products listed in the project proposal. We understand that USDA undersecretaries are not happy with ERS absence with irrigated agriculture. However Susan Offut claims that water is the realm of NRCS. Water is the top priority of AES nation wide. Not refined quality in east and quantity in west. USDA finds that quantity and quality can not be separated. Water quality has always been a W1190 issue. Morning Session II Wyatt led a discussion of Product 1, and discussed the on farm decision making tool with soil salinity and yield impacts for the Rio Grand valley in Texas. Wyatt thinks we can broaden this to other water quality issues, sedimentation. Brian suggested that we can integrate the Rio Grand model. We can do upper and lower Rio Grand. We can do a regional multistate project that does deal with soil to watershed modeling. The fact that many of the project proposals products were developed and led by members who were no longer with us, led us to reassess how the committee proceeds. The committee then suggested that because of changing personnel that we could not maintain the focus on the products and reporting on the products. Instead it was decided to revert to state reports and that reporting should be done by objective and not products. State reports Nebraska Ray Supalla distributed the Nebraska report. Efforts were mostly objective 2. Major issues included reduced consumptive water use and conflicts with Kansas. The Water Optimizer tool was used. Ray said water trading between irrigators occurs, but transfers to instream flow uses are not popular. Washington Ray Huffaker reported orally. He discussed dam sediment removal technology, as a tradeoff between current and future uses. Idaho Garth Taylor discussed collaboration with the Bureau of Reclamation. Research used a partial equilibrium model with externalities, with GAMS with rights and priorities. Groundwater externalities are positive. Input output work economic impacts. He discussed CREP $1/3 billion, a super boondoggle to produce paper water by leasing land. They will use this money to put corners into pivots. New Mexico Brian reported orally, written report will be sent. Research was on impacts of salinity on water and soil in Rio Grand. Need to scale back on objectives in order to not scare irrigation districts. Should collaborate on upstream and downstream impacts. Also research on effects of climate change on New Mexico. Texas Ari discussed the Desalinization lifecycle economics model. Largest inland desalinization plant in the world, uses brackish water deep-well injections in the El Paso area. El Paso was a Federal flood disaster area. Flood insurance needs is an issue. Need to redraw flood maps. Need to put in new gages. Need a post flood assessment. Other research was on the use of irrigation return flows, conjunctive use, and the physical understanding of return flows and salinity. Ari also discussed leveraging from Rio Grand initiative. Wyatt discussed data on detecting salinity. Data did not show good correlation. Production functions on 48 years of historical data. Other research was on the long term impacts of biofuels. Water quality issues of biofuels is salinity. Ray suggested that in Nebraska one irrigation well is an ethanol plant. So the context of ethanol using too much water, is not there. A good fact sheet would be nice. MTB was an ethanol substitute, but this contaminated the groundwater. Ethanol should be kept on the radar. Hawaii Gopal discussed political externalities, public expenditure on public goods are not based upon economic principles, but political reasons, lobbying etc. The role of pork barrel politics. Gopal produced a short paper, and a proposal for WAEA meeting in AK was not accepted, but idea continues. Simulation of water markets and gains from trade. Vested interests thwarted water code, another example of political externalities. Including rent seeking. Three page proposal. Special issue Journal of Institutional and Policy Research. Special issue of International Journal of Water Resource Management. Floods and droughts and extreme climate events. Special issue on water and disasters. New area thinking outside the box. Two or three tangible projects. Indiana Work in objective 3, with a little in objective 2. She did conceptual research on privatization. This is a big international issue. The role of public participation was an issue. She is looking for studies on common property groundwater management. Texas has rule of capture and that leads to creation of groundwater districts. North Dakota has a prior appropriation that privatizes groundwater and place the state in a management. She is conducting a survey of substitutes and complements of water trusts and state management. She will assess public private role, substitutes and private. But maybe states are complements and not substitutes for trusts. Instream flows as beneficial use. So trusts can purchase rights some states maintain seniority. North Dakota Bob discussed research on local water management institutions. A survey is being conducted and result will be available in 2007. Bureau of Reclamation Rob mentioned Garths and Rays studies. We were invited to the First annual research meeting in Bureau of Reclamation in Denver. He discussed FRIS data. Market transfers between farmer to farmer but little else. This is a nice issue for political externalities. Illinois Nick talked about the spatial analysis that integrates hydrology, economics, engineering, instituions, modeling. Jeff Peterson and Alex Saak in KSU will work on Republican River. Nebraska data will be used. Other research focuses on lake eutrophication, to determine a threshold when you do not know where the threshold is. 10/13/2006 Brian discussed key strategies and key alliances for upcoming year We should be set goals for interaction next year. Garth wants to work with Bureau of Rec, use their money, basin water allocation issues collaborate with engineers and hydrologists. We should continue research on demand for water, and incorporate Grant Cardons work. We want to work on modeling so that we do not need to reinvent the wheel. Water, soil, production functions are very integrated. Business meeting Where next year Nominations . . . 1. Nebraska, Lincoln or Omaha. 2. Federal Center in Denver hosted by Bu of Rec. 3. South Padre or El Paso 4. Kansas City 5. Idaho Dates October is 11 & 12 or 18 & 19. Vote on final dates. Vote Passes in favor of Nebraska. It will probably be in Lincoln, perhaps not a football weekend. In Nebraska Meeting with DNR, district, Field trip, crane migration It was suggested that we should shape meeting around two thrusts 1. modelling, field crop yield to basin, value functions, 2. water institutions and political externalities, water institution modeling. Issues include cohesive modelling decision making process and adaptive management on the Platte. Submissions for special session to WAEA meeting Portland. Work on institutional modeling. China is an issue, central control. ACOE decision making projects. Officers for upcoming year Brian proposes that Brian keep the chair, Bob passes to vice chair, Garth has been nominated for incoming secretary, seconded, and passed. Report writing was discussed with suggestions of how to facilitate the process. Write impact statements Gopal discussed effort lets get a lot of papers on institutions We discussed recruitment of New Members and Friends, suggestions included: Idaho  no resource economists and more community development people Texas  Ari has names California  Mark Grissner an official member, Jay Lund, Mike Campana, Suggestions for Future Thrust Areas 1. Salinity Management and Basin Modeling 2. Institutional Design and Political Externalities

Water throughout the Western U.S. is central to both regional economies and environments. This collaborative research project focuses on the strategic mobilization of water across uses and sectors, in particular, those relating to irrigated agriculture  the largest water user in the West. Recent years have witnessed major changes in the technology, economics, and institutions that have a significant bearing on water, its use and its conservation. Also the continuing change in western economies, with the increasing importance of recreation, leisure, and the environment and the relative decreasing importance of irrigated agriculture implies further research challenges in order to ensure efficient water use. The overall research objectives are summarized as follows: 1. Develop and evaluate alternative technologies to monitor environmental effects of water allocation and management; 2. Quantify comparative economic values of water in alternative uses; and 3. Assess the effectiveness of alternative management institutions, laws, and policies for water allocation. Two continuing themes demonstrate ongoing multistate and multidisciplinary collaboration and linkages. These themes are: i) expanding crop water-use and evapotranspiration models to the watershed and basin levels, which will be addressed under Objective 2; and ii) assessing institutional and policy linkages through a theme of political externalities, which is addressed under Objective 3. Objective 1: Develop and evaluate alternative technologies to monitor environmental effects of water allocation and management Activities, Accomplishments and Impacts. Research in Washington and Nebraska assessed reservoir storage. Researchers in Nebraska focused on how water shortages have impacted the recreation industry or the regional economy and on whether there are any short-term water management opportunities for mitigating such impacts which are economically justifiable. Major findings from this study were: 1) Diverting less water for recreation or hydropower in order to provide for improved recreation would be economically efficient under some reservoir conditions; 2) the most cost effective method of augmenting the reservoir would be to reduce winter releases for hydropower; and 3) reallocating water from irrigation and hydropower would not be a cost effective method of enhancing the Western Nebraska regional economy. Research in Washington Huffaker and colleagues have addressed the Economic Dynamics of Reservoir Sedimentation Management. Singular perturbation methods were applied to investigate the economic dynamics of optimally controlling the accumulation of sediments that destroy water storage capacity in dam/reservoir projects. The impoundment of water in the reservoir evolves on a fast time scale, and the loss of storage capacity to sediment evolves on a slow time scale. The work breaks new ground by formulating a hydro-economic threshold of reservoir storage capacity that indicates whether a manager should optimally manage the reservoir as a renewable resource (by applying a sustained sediment removal policy) or a nonrenewable resource (by eventually abandoning the reservoir and allowing it to fill with sediment). This work was done in collaboration with a civil engineer specializing in reservoir sedimentation, and under the sponsorship of the International Coordinating Committee on Reservoir Sedimentation (UNESCO). In Washington research investigated the dynamics of sediment accumulation in a storage reservoir when sediment removal competes for impounded water required for other valuable uses (e.g., hydropower generation, irrigation diversions, recreation, etc.). The extent to which different impounded-water consumption polices succeed in bifurcating the system from unstable (decreasing storage capacity) to stable (sustained storage capacity) operating regimes was assessed. In New Mexico, Hurd, Ward and colleagues researched soil salinity measurement methods to rapidly monitor the impact of basin-scale water management decisions. These researchers: i) assembled data on the salinity impacts to specific agricultural crops in the Rio Grande Valley; and ii) analyzed the impacts of alternative salinity scenarios on water use and economic returns to agriculture in the Rio Grande Valley. Salinity effects on water quality present many complex challenges to the long-run management of water resources along the Rio Grande. This exploratory assessment suggests that the adverse effects of salinity on agriculture and economic returns are measurable, as production shifts from high- to low-valued crops and total acreage falls as salinity levels rise. Salinity management is likely to become increasingly important to the region in order to maintain water quality and the arability of agricultural cropland. More comprehensive study of salinity management options, effects, and costs is suggested with particular attention given to the interaction of water conservation activities to salt-leaching requirements. In Texas, water quality impacts of alternative tillage and atrazine management practices on atrazine field losses in corn production in Central Texas were monitored in 2006 and concentrations were minimized by incorporating atrazine at application time. Long term computer simulations agreed that losses of atrazine, in this case loads, would be lowest with incorporation but also by banding over the seed row. Soil salinity sample analyses were compared with EC readings made by a Veris ground survey as an alternative method to monitor and manage environmental conditions and effects. The results of this research showed there was poor correlation between laboratory salinity analyses and the EC measurements. This is an important finding for those relying on EC measurements using this equipment. Continuing Activities In Illinois, Brozovic is continuing a spatial analysis of wetland mitigation patterns. Spatial analysis will be used to characterize the spatial and temporal socioeconomic impacts of compensatory wetland mitigation. This research is undertaken with researchers from urban and regional planning. Brozovic will also continue analyzing the economic dynamics of ecosystems with unknown thresholds. This research is a theoretical analysis of the optimal management of pollutant inputs into a lake ecosystem when there is an unknown threshold separating physical regimes with distinct behaviors. Harman and Hurd are moving forward with proposal activities to support the use of the Cropman simulation model to assist in on-farm efforts to improve irrigation and salinity management. Objective 2: Quantify comparative economic values of water in alternative uses Activities, Accomplishments and Impacts. In Nebraska procedures for linking economic, evapotranspiration, and hydrology models on a watershed scale were developed and tested. Results from the water optimizer model for most areas in Nebraska suggest that in the general case deficit irrigation of corn and soybeans is the most profitable option when water becomes limiting. Reducing irrigated area does not become an attractive option until water supply is reduced to about 70 percent of the full irrigation requirement for corn, and irrigating drought tolerant crops such as wheat or grain sorghum is rarely preferred. In Kansas county level optimization models were developed by Peterson and colleagues to project irrigation water use in the Southern High Plains Region. Projections were made for a 60-year horizon for all counties overlying the High Plains aquifer in KS, CO, and TX. Combined results are summarized in Peterson et al. (2006). Although there is substantial heterogeneity in the region, the models generally predict that farmers will respond to aquifer decline be steadily reducing irrigated acreage while holding water application rates per acre approximately constant. A theoretical model was developed by Saak and Peterson to assess the role of imperfect information in water extracted from a common pool aquifer. In particular, agents in the model realize that their withdrawal rates have some impact on their neighbors future water availability, but are unsure about the magnitude of this impact. In hydrologic terms, there rate of aquifer transmissivity is unknown to individual users. In a simple 2-user, 2-period game, the lack of information can be shown to either increase or decrease water use and welfare levels in the Nash equilibrium. The direction of impact depends on a rather subtle curvature property of the users net benefit functions, which can be interpreted as a feature of risk preferences. Policy makers in the Southern Ogallala region have improved information to assess the prospects for water conservation policies. In Texas, irrigation production functions were developed from simulations of major crops in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas using explanatory variables: historical weather as a proxy for annual precipitation, five salt levels, a range of sandy to clay soils, and alternative seasonal irrigation amounts for winter and spring corn, cotton, grain sorghum, sugarcane, onions, cabbage, watermelons, and cantaloupes. Soil salinity can be detrimental to salt sensitive crop yields and developing irrigation functions with salt levels as explanatory variables can aid irrigators in assessing yield risk due to saline irrigation water. In Texas, Individual irrigation rates and timings were also simulated for use in efficient allocation of water between competing crops such as spring corn, cotton and sorghum. A decision tool, IRRG AID at http://cropman.brc.tamus.edu, is based on these three functions. Marek installed two 34,000 lb. class monolithic lysimeters at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Uvalde Research Center to enable accurate measurement and determination of crop ET for the South Texas Region. Spinach crop water use coefficients were determined and published for use by producers in the South Texas region to increase water use efficiency and producer profitability. This past year, the Texas High Plains ET (TXHPET) network was established (http://txhighplainset.tamu.edu) and many of the newly developed features are to be extended to stations located in the far (San Angelo region & Pecos) and South Texas region (Uvalde and vicinity). Research continues on the reduction of ET estimates through model improvement in the ET networks by assessing crop stage development and growing degree (heat unit) triggers. Marek installed two 34,000 lb. class monolithic lysimeters at the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Uvalde Research Center to enable accurate measurement and determination of crop ET for the South Texas Region. Spinach crop water use coefficients were determined and published for use by producers in the South Texas region to increase water use efficiency and producer profitability. This past year, the Texas High Plains ET (TXHPET) network was established (http://txhighplainset.tamu.edu) and many of the newly developed features are to be extended to stations located in the far (San Angelo region & Pecos) and South Texas region (Uvalde and vicinity). Research continues on the reduction of ET estimates through model improvement in the ET networks by assessing crop stage development and growing degree (heat unit) triggers. Continuing Activities. In Nebraska Suppalla and colleagues will continue developing and testing procedures for linking economic, evapotranspiration and hydrology models on a watershed. There appears to be a consensus that the Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) developed by the USDA-ARS is the one of the preferred models for simulating the hydrology of agricultural watersheds. Early analysis shows that the methods in the SWAT model may under predict the water use of fully irrigated crops. The model also lacks the ability to simulate the impact of irrigation uniformity on deep percolation from irrigation. Thus, while the model shows promise we anticipate that it will need revision for agricultural watersheds in the Great Plains. Researchers are investigating means to include this variability into the SWAT model. In Illinois, Brozovic collaborating with researchers from Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas, and California is conducting spatial dynamic modeling of groundwater management. Dynamic optimization methods are being applied to spatial models of groundwater externalities that incorporate civil engineering equations of transient groundwater flow. Ongoing research includes collaborative theoretical and empirical studies with economic and engineering researchers from Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas, and California. I am directing an undergraduate minority student, who participated in the McNair Scholars Program, in a portion of this research. Objective 3: Assess the effectiveness of alternative management institutions, laws, and policies for water allocation Activities, Accomplishments and Impacts. Work in Hawaii featured a review, discussion and analysis of water allocation laws and procedures in Hawaii in terms of political externalities. The term political externalities, in the context of our research, is used to describe the many ways in which decisions and actions concerning the ownership, allocation, planning and management of water resources are influenced via the political process. As part of this study we developed and reviewed information about the ownership, allocation, and management of water for irrigation and agricultural purposes in Hawaii, with special reference to sugar and pineapple plantations, the principal consumers of water in the state. The major findings from our study suggested the following; 1) Ten big corporations owned approximately 25% of the land in Hawaii and 80% of the state's sugar and pineapple plantations during the study period (1930-1992). These plantations used about 24% of the fresh water consumed in the state of Hawaii. 2) They were able to purchase water at very low prices from the state because of political connections. We estimated the gains to the sugar plantations during the 60-year period due to excessively low prices charged to be nearly $1.4 billion, a clear case of private gain at public loss; 3) Attempts at establishing a Water Code for Hawaii were thwarted by vested interests through political interventions, resulting in inefficient water allocation; 4) In disputes involving private use of Hawaii's public water resources, in many instances in the past, judicial decisions favoring private parties were handed down; 5) Water demands of Native Hawaiians were neglected; 6) No specific criteria for prioritizing water use were developed at the state level. In brief, water allocation and management in Hawaii up until recently presented a compelling picture of political externalities in action. In Washington, the law and economics of resolving reservoir sediment management conflicts was researched. In 2006 researchers in Nebraska completed work on a water marketing project in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation and ERS. This effort involved three main components: a legal review of water marketing practices in the 17 western states; water auction experiments using the University of Nebraska Economics Laboratory; and a mail survey of Nebraska Irrigators. The major findings, conclusions and policy implications were: 1. Allowing more creativity in satisfying the no-injury rule through water supply augmentation, as is practiced in Colorado, would make water marketing a more flexible tool than it currently is in other western states. 2. The effectiveness of markets could be enhanced in most states by using simplified general approaches to determining consumptive use, transfer entitlements and expected third party impacts. 3. Buyer priced auctions had a lower cost of water right acquisition for the state, resulted in a more efficient market and produced a more equitable outcome for irrigators. The seller priced auctions, however, resulted in more total revenue for all players combined, provided more opportunity for sellers to exercise marketing skills and were a little easier to administer. 4. Water right owners who participated in an experimental auction practiced a strategy which led to similar prices for all rights sold, rather than differential prices reflecting differences in irrigation productivity. This finding, if supported by additional replications, has major implications for the cost of acquiring irrigation rights when the water is to be used for non-agricultural purposes. 5. The proposed use of water by the buyer substantially influences the willingness of irrigators to participate in a water market. Less than 20 percent of Nebraska irrigators would likely participate in a market if the water was for endangered species or for use by municipalities out-of-state, whereas over 60 percent were likely to participate if the water was for other agricultural uses. 6. The length of a lease substantially influences likely water market participation, with nearly 60 percent of Nebraska irrigators interested in one year leases and less than 10 percent interested in 30 years leases or permanent sale. 7. Nebraska irrigators indicated that their minimum acceptable price for leasing their water rights was approximately double the estimated average irrigation use value. 8. The single most important policy implication which flows from this analysis is that any public entity that proposes to acquire irrigation rights in a willing-buyer and willing-seller relationship, irrespective of the type of bidding process used, should expect to pay substantially more than what the water is worth in irrigation. This is especially true if it is a long-term acquisition and/or if the water is being acquired for some use that is not regarded by the agricultural community as important. Continuing Activities. Research will continue on the theme of political externalities. Work in Hawaii will focus on developing specific suggestions for the consideration of the state Water Commission, the state Board of Water Supply and other agencies that play an important role in crafting and implementing water. Research efforts in North Dakota focused on the analysis of local management institutions, with a focus on the Red River Basin. After extensive consultation with local water managers and experts, two survey instruments were developed and refined by Hearne and colleagues. Practice surveys were conducted and a full survey of Local water management organizations in the Red River Basin of Minnesota and North Dakota and their board members will conducted in November and December of 2006. These surveys will provide primary data for a MS theses as well as peer reviewed publications. A second graduate research assistant was recruited and has initiated his literature review on stakeholder analysis of water management. Research in Idaho conducted by Taylor and colleagues have focused agriculture, municipal, industrial, and environmental demands for Idahos limited water supplies.

Arumí, J.L., D. L. Martin and D. G. Watts. 2005. Semi-Analytical Model of the Flow of Water through the Intermediate Vadose Zone. Accepted, Journal of Irrig. and Drain. Eng., ASCE. Arumí, J.L., D. L. Martin and D. G. Watts. 2005. Modeling the Effects of Agriculture Management Practices on Groundwater. Accepted, Journ. Irrig. and Drain. Eng., ASCE. Auvermann, B., T. Marek, C. Rogers, G. Marek, K. Heflin, J. Bush and B. Chaffin. 2005. The Water Curtain  An Edge of Feedyard Dust Control Technique. Texas Agricultural Experiment Station,  Amarillo Highlights Sheet. Amosson, S., L. Almas, F. Bretz, D. Gaskins, B. Guerrero, D. Jones, T. Marek, L. New, and N. Simpson. 2005. Water Management Strategies for Reducing Irrigation Demands in Region A. Prepared for Agricultural Sub Committee Panhandle Water Planning Group. Texas A&M University Agricultural Research and Extension Center, Amarillo, Texas. January. 79 p. Booker, J.F., A.M. Michelsen and F.A. Ward. 2005. Economic Impact of Alternative Policy Responses to Prolonged and Severe Drought in the Rio Grande Basin. Water Resources Research. 41(WO2626):1-15. Brozovi, N., Sunding, D.L., and Zilberman, D., 2006, Optimal management of groundwater over space and time, in Frontiers in Water Resource Economics, eds. R. Goetz and D. Berga, Natural Resource Management and Policy Series, Vol. 29, Springer, 275 p. Foltz, John, Stacie Woodall Philip Wandschneider and R. G. Taylor The Contribution of the Grape and Wine Industry to Idahos Economy -Agribusiness and Tourism Impacts. Journal of Agribusiness Vol. 25 No. 1; 2007. Golden B.B., and J.M. Peterson. Evaluation of Water Conservation from More Efficient Irrigation Systems. Staff Paper 06-03, Department of Agricultural Economics, Kansas State University, June 2006. Golden, B., T. Kastens, K. Dhuyvetter, and J.M. Peterson. Developing an Economic Tool to Predict the Value of Water Rights. Department of Agricultural Economics, Kansas State University, May 2006. Granados-Olivas, A., C. Brown, J. Greenlee, B. Creel, J. Hawley, J. Kennedy, O. Dena-Ornelas, and B. Hurd. 2006. Geographic Information Systems At the Paso Del Norte Region: The Academic Accomplishments and Challenges for a Transboundary Water GIS Cooperation, New Mexico Journal of Science, Vol. 44 (Aug), pp. 59-70. Harman, Wyatte L., T.J. Gerik, M. Magre, E. Steglich, and J.R. Robinson. 2005. Irrigation yield response of crops in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. BRC Report 05 05, Blackland Research and Extension Center, Temple, Texas. Harman, Wyatte L., M. Dozier, and T.J. Gerik. 2006. Atrazine field losses: A simulation study of mitigation strategies. BRC Report 2007 1, Blackland Research and Extension Center, Temple, Texas. Houk, Eric, R. G. Taylor, and M. Frasier. Evaluating Water Transfers from Irrigated Agriculture for Endangered Species in the Platte River Basin .Journal of Water Management accepted 2007. Huffaker, R., and R. Hotchkiss. Economic Dynamics of Reservoir Sedimentation Management: Optimal Control with Singularly Perturbed Equations of Motion. Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control 30(2006):2553-2575. (Objective 1) Huffaker, R.G., and J. Hamilton. Conflict in U.S. Irrigation. Irrigation of Agricultural Crops Monograph. Eds. R. Lascano and R. Sojka, USDA-ARS. In press. Hurd, B.H. Water Conservation and Residential Landscapes: Household Preferences, Household Choices, 2006. Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 173-192. Hurd, B.H., C. Brown, J. Greenlee, A. Granados, and M. Hendrie, 2006. Assessing Water Resource Vulnerability for Arid Watersheds: GIS-based Research in the Paso del Norte Region. New Mexico Journal of Science, Vol. 44 (Aug), pp. 39-61. Hurd, B.H., R. St-Hilaire, and J. White. 2006. Residential Landscapes, Homeowner Attitudes and Water-Wise Choices in New Mexico, HortTechnology, 16(2): pp. 241-246. Lacewell, R.D., R. Freeman, D. Petit, M.E. Rister, A.W. Sturdivant, L. Ribera, and M. Zinn. "Update of Estimated Agricultural Benefits Attributable to Drainage and Flood Control in Willacy County, Texas  Raymondville Drain  Static and Stochastic Implications." Contract report provided to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Galveston, Texas. Texas Water Resources Institute. TR-294. College Station, TX. August 2006. Larsen, Ryan, Garth Taylor, and Steve Hines. The Economic Impact of Snowmobiling in the Valley County. University of Idaho, Agricultural Experiment Station, BUL 844. 2006. Larsen, Ryan, Garth Taylor, and Steve Hines. Snowmobiling and the Valley County. University of Idaho, Agricultural Experiment Station, Technical Bulletin 844. 2006. Marek, T., T. Moore and E. Cox. 2005. The Future of Cotton in the Northern Texas High Plains. Texas Agricultural Experiment Station,  Amarillo Highlights Sheet. Marek, T., S. Amosson, L. Almas, F. Bretz, D. Gaskins, B. Guerrero and D. Jones. 2005. Feasibility of Water Management Strategies for the Declining Ogallala Aquifer in the Northern Texas High Plains During the Next 60 Years. Texas Agricultural Experiment Station,  Amarillo Highlights Sheet. Marek, T. Marek and B. Auvermann. 2005. Irrigation Variable Rate Development. Texas Agricultural Experiment Station,  Amarillo Highlights Sheet. Marek, T. and B. Auvermann. 2005. Lysimetry and Water Use Measurement. Texas Agricultural Experiment Station,  Amarillo Highlights Sheet. Marek, T. 2005. North Plains Research Field  Etter Precision Agriculture Effort. Texas Agricultural Experiment Station,  Amarillo Highlights Sheet. Marek, T., D. Porter and T. Howell. 2005. The Texas High Plains Evapotranspiration (TXHPET) Network. Report to TWDB for contract # 2004 358 008. 16 p. Marek, T., D. Porter and T. Howell. 2005. The Texas High Plains Evapotranspiration Network An Irrigation Scheduling Technology Transfer Tool. Report to TWDB, Austin, TX. 17 p. Marek, T., S. Amosson, L. New, F. Bretz, and B. Guerrero. 2005. Senate Bill 2  Region A Task 3 Memorandum on Water Supply Analysis. Report submitted to Freese and Nichols for TWDB Contract PPC02218. Marek, T. and D. Porter. 2005. The Texas High Plains Evapotranspiration Network (TXHPET) A Technology Transfer and Research Support Program FY06 FY09 Project Plan. Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Amarillo Lubbock. 28p. McKean, J. R. Donn Johnson, R. G. Taylor. Travel Cost Model Specification on Estimated Consumer Surplus: The Case of Steelhead Trout Fishing Demand in Idaho. Selected Paper, Western Agricultural Economics Association Annual Conference, Alaska, July, 2006. McKean, J. R. Donn Johnson, R. G. Taylor. The Effect of Travel Cost Model Specification on Estimated Consumer Surplus: The Case of Steelhead Trout Fishing Demand in Idaho. Selected Paper, Eastern Economics Association. New York, NY March 4-6 2005. Michelsen, A.M. and T. Brown. 2005. Western Water Markets: Transactions, Prices and Diversity. 50th New Mexico Annual Water Conference. New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute, Las Cruces, NM, October 18-20. Proceedings. Invited. Michelsen, A.M. 2006. Water Marketing Opportunities for the Paso del Norte Region. Paso del Norte Economic Development Group. El Paso, TX. June 7, 2006. Invited. Peterson, J.M. Review of Water Institutions: Policies, Performance and Prospects, C. Gopalakrishnan, C. Tortajada, and A.K. Biswas, Eds. International Journal of Water Resources Development 21(December 2005): 679-682. Peterson, J.M., Y. Ding, L.K. Almas, S. Amosson, W.A. Colette, J.W. Johnson, S.C. Park, E. Segarra, E. Wheeler. Projecting Income and Hydrologic Changes in the Southern Ogallala Region using Economic Optimization Models. Presented at the USDA-ARS Ogallala Aquifer Program Workshop, Amarillo, Texas, March 2006. Rister, M.E., R.D. Lacewell, and A.W. Sturdivant. "Economic and Conservation Evaluation of Capital Renovation Projects: United Irrigation District of Hidalgo County (United)  Rehabilitation of Main Canal, Laterals, and Diversion Pump Station  Final." Texas Water Resources Institute. TR 288. College Station, TX. March 2006. Robinson, J.R., A.M. Michelsen and N. Gollehon. 2005. Economic Impact of International Treaty Water Shortages. American Water Resources Association Annual Conference, Seattle, WA, November 7-10. Rodríguez, A. and R. G. Taylor. 2005. Synthesis and Linkages of Initiative Countries in Watershed Improvement. Presented at the Fourth Regional Thematic Workshop, Reading, UK, 3-5 April, 2005. Regional Initiative for Dryland Management, Multilateral Working Group on the Environment, Cairo, Egypt. Rodríguez, A. and R.G. Taylor. 2005. Synthesis and Linkages of Initiative Countries in Treated Wastewater and Biosolids Use. Presented at the Fourth Regional Thematic Workshop, Reading, UK, 3-5 April, 2005. Regional Initiative for Dryland Management, Multilateral Working Group on the Environment, Cairo, Egypt. Rogers, C.A., A.W. Sturdivant, M.E. Rister, and R.D. Lacewell. Goal Seek Pamphlet for VIDRA© using Microsoft® Excel®. Texas Water Resources Institute. SR 2006-02. August 2006. Ryan Larsen, John McKean, and Garth Taylor. Value of Snowmobiling in Valley County Idaho. Selected paper presented at the Western Agricultural Economics Association Annual Conference, Alaska, July, 2006. S. Irmak, J.O. Payero, D.L. Martin, R.G. Allen and T.A. Howell. 2005. Sensitivity Analyses and Sensitivity Coefficients for the Standardized 24-hr Timestep ASCE-Penman-Monteith Equation. Accepted. Journal Irrig. and Drain. Eng. ASCE. S. Irmak, T. A. Howell, R. G. Allen, J. O. Payero and D. L. Martin. 2005. Standardized ASCE Penman-Monteith: Impact of Sum-of-Hourly vs. 24-Hour Timestep Computations at Reference Weather Station Sites. Trans. ASAE. 48(3):1063-1077. Saak, A.E. and J.M. Peterson. Groundwater Use under Incomplete Information. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, accepted pending final revisions, 2006. Sheng, Z., Y., Liu, A. Michelsen and D. Xu. 2005. Comparative Study in Water Resources Development of Western Regions in the United States and China. Transactions of American Society of Agricultural Engineers. 48(3):1015-1024. Sheng, Z. A.W. Sturdivant, A.M. Michelsen, and R.D Lacewell. Rapid Economic Assessment of Flood-Control Failure Along the Rio Grande: A Case Study. International Journal of Water Resources Development, Vol 21, No. 4, pp. 629-649 (December 2005). Sturdivant, A.W., M.E. Rister, R.D. Lacewell, J.W. Norris, J. Leal, C.S. Rogers, J. Garza, and J. Adams. Economic Costs of Desalination in South Texas  A Case Study of the Southmost Facility. Texas Water Resources Institute. TR-295. College Station, TX. Sturdivant, A.W., M.E. Rister, R.D. Lacewell, and C.S. Rogers. "Validating the Estimated Cost of Saving Water Through Infrastructure Rehabilitation in the Texas Lower Rio Grande Valley  A Case Study Using Actual Construction Costs for the Interconnect and Pumping Plant Project, Cameron County Irrigation District No. 2 (San Benito)." Texas Water Resources Institute. SR 2006-04. College Station, TX. Sturdivant, A.W. Costs of Delivering Water in the Lower Rio Grande Valley  Survey Results for the LRGVWDMA. Lower Rio Grande Valley Water District Managers Association. Edinburg, TX. December 20, 2005. Invited. Sturdivant, A.W. and L.A. Ribera. The Presence and Impacts of Agricultural Economists in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Meeting of the Abriendo Puertas program. Weslaco, TX. January 25, 2006. Invited. Sturdivant, A.W., M.E. Rister, and R.D. Lacewell. Economists: Task 1. Joint Rio Grande Basin Initiatives Annual Conference. Ruidoso, NM., March 28, 2006. Sturdivant, A.W., M.E. Rister, and R.D. Lacewell. RGBI Agricultural Economists: Bringing Economics, Finance, Accounting, and Computer Modeling to Water Planning in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Poster presented at Joint Rio Grande Basin Initiatives Annual Conference. Ruidoso Conference Center. Ruidoso, NM. March 27-30, 2006. Sturdivant, A.W., M.E. Rister, and R.D. Lacewell. The Costs of Saving Water with Infrastructure Rehabilitation - Economic Perspectives. Poster presented at Joint Rio Grande Basin Initiatives Annual Conference. Ruidoso Conference Center. Ruidoso, NM. March 27-30, 2006. Sturdivant, A.W., M.E. Rister, and R.D. Lacewell. The Value of Water, the Costs of Delivery, the Interaction of Rates, and Their Relevance to LRGV. Members of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Water District Managers Association and Various Municipality Representatives. Weslaco, TX. January 23, 2006. Invited. Sturdivant, A.W., M.E. Rister, and R.D. Lacewell. "Validating the Estimated Cost of Saving Water Through Infrastructure Rehabilitation in the Texas Lower Rio Grande Valley  A Case Study Using Actual Construction Costs for the Wisconsin Pipeline Project, Hidalgo County Irrigation District No. 2 (San Juan)." Texas Water Resources Institute. SR 2005-03. College Station, TX. December 2005. Sturdivant, A.W., M.E. Rister, and R.D. Lacewell. Water, Agricultural Economists and the Rio Grande Valley. Monthly meeting of the Sustainable Agriculture Task Force. Edinburg, TX. April 11, 2006. Invited. Sturdivant, A.W., M.E. Rister, R.D. Lacewell, J.W. Norris, and J. Leal. Economic Implications of Desalination in South Texas. Proceedings of Increasing Freshwater Supplies Universities Council on Water Resources Annual Meeting. Santa Fe, NM. July 18-20, 2006. (abstract) Sturdivant, A.W., M.E. Rister, R.D. Lacewell, J.W. Norris, and J. Leal. Economic Implications of Desalination in South Texas. Annual meeting of Universities Council on Water Resources. Santa Fe, NM. July 18, 2006. Sturdivant, A.W., M.E. Rister, R.D. Lacewell, and L.A. Ribera. The Value of Water, the Interaction of Rates, and Their Relevance to LRGVWDMA - II. Lower Rio Grande Valley Water District Managers Association. Weslaco, TX. December 9, 2005. Invited. Sturdivant, A.W., M.E. Rister, R.D. Lacewell, and L.A. Ribera. The Value of Water, the Interaction of Rates, and Their Relevance to LRGVWDMA. Lower Rio Grande Valley Water District Managers Association. Weslaco, TX. November 10, 2005. Invited. Supalla, R. J., D. Aiken, R. Davis, D. Munger, N. Gollehon, T. Buell, B. McMullen and R. Brewster. 2006. Market Mechanisms for Addressing Water Supply and Environmental Needs in the North Platte Basin: The Potential for Water Leasing, Option Contracts and Other Exchange Mechanisms. Final Report, ERS-UNL Cooperative Agreement on Water Marketing, Agreement No. 43-3AEL-3-80043. Supalla, R. J., T. Buell and S. Stricker. 2006. Economics of Management Options for Lake McConaughy. Department of Agricultural Economics Research Report, University of Nebraska- Lincoln. Supalla, R.J., D. Martin and S. Nedved. 2005. Water Optimizer, Decision Support Tool for Deficit Irrigation. University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Instruction manual available at http://extension-water.unl.edu. Supalla, R. J., T. Buell and B. McMullen. 2006. The Cost of Reducing Irrigation, Department of Agricultural Economics Research Report, University of NebraskaLincoln. Taylor, Garth, Leroy Stodick, Joel Hamilton, R D Schmidt, and Zena Cook Economic/Hydrologic Externalities and Spatial Water Allocation Modeling 2006 Idaho Water Resources Research Symposia, Research to Support Management of Idaho's Waters Idaho University of Idaho, Water Resources Research Institute November 23 -24, 2006 Boise ID. Thimmes, A., R. Huffaker, and R. Hotchkiss. A Law and Economics Approach to Resolving Reservoir Sediment Management Conflicts. Journal of American Water Resources Association 41(December 2005):1449-1456. Williams, J.R., W.L. Harman, M. Magre, U. Kizil, J.A. Lindley, G. Padmanabhan, E. Wang. 2006. APEX feedlot water quality simulation. Trans ASABE 49(1):61-73. Wang, X., R.D. Harmel, J.R. Williams, and W.L. Harman. 2006. Evaluation of EPIC for assessing crop yield, runoff, sediment, and nutrient losses from watersheds with poultry litter fertilization. Trans ASABE 49(1):47 59. Ward, F.A., B.H. Hurd, T. Rahmani, and N. Gollehon. 2006. Economic impacts of federal policy responses to drought in the Rio Grande Basin, Water Resources Research, VOL. 42, W03420, doi:10.1029/2005WR004427, pp. 1-13. Ward, F.A., J.F. Booker and A.M. Michelsen. 2006. Integrated Economic, Hydrologic and Institutional Analysis of Policy Responses to Mitigate Drought Impacts in the Rio Grande Basin. Journal of Water Resources Planning and Mangement. (in press). Ward, F.A., J.F. Booker, and A.M Michelsen, "Economic Impacts of Policy Responses to Severe Droughts in the Rio Grande Basin (USA)," presented at the International Workshop on Hydroeconomic Modeling and Tools for Implementation of the European Water Framework Directive, January 30-31, 2006, Valencia, Spain. Ward, F.A., A.M. Michelsen and L. DeMouche. 2005. Institutional Barriers to Water Conservation: Challenges and Opportunities. 50th New Mexico Annual Water Conference. New Mexico Water Resources Research Institute, Las Cruces, NM, October 18-20. Proceedings. Invited. Ward, F.A., A.M. Michelsen and J.F. Booker. 2006. Sustainable Policy Design through Integrated Basin Models: Findings from the Rio Grande. Increasing Fresh Water Supplies, Universities Council on Water Resources, Santa Fe, NM. July 18-20. Proceedings CD. Ward, F.A., A.M. Michelsen and L DeMouche. 2006. Barriers to Water Conservation in the Rio Grande Basin. Journal of the American Water Resources Association. (in press) Wolfe, C.D., M.J. Stubbs, M.E. Rister, A.W. Sturdivant, R.D. Lacewell, and E.L. Pennington. An Overview of Operational Characteristics of Selected Irrigation Districts in the Texas Lower Rio Grande Valley: Harlingen Irrigation District Cameron County No. 1. Texas Water Resources Institute. TR-270. College Station, TX. Wolfe, C.D., M.J. Stubbs, E.L. Pennington, M.E. Rister, A.W. Sturdivant, and R.D. Lacewell. An Overview of Operational Characteristics of Selected Irrigation Districts in the Texas Lower Rio Grande Valley: Delta Lake Irrigation District. Texas Water Resources Institute. TR-290. College Station, TX.