Improving Agricultural Water Use Efficiency: A Quantitative Study of Zhangye City Using the Static CGE Model with a CES Water−Land Resources Account

Abstract

Water resources play a vital role in human life and agriculture irrigation, especially for agriculture-dominant developing countries and regions. Improving agricultural water use efficiency has consequently become a key strategic choice. This study, based on Zhangye City's economic characteristics and data, applies a static Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) model with a constant elasticity of substitution (CES) composited water−land resources account to assess the impact of improving agricultural water use efficiency on economy, water conservation and land reallocation. Results reveal that: Zhangye City's GDP increases by 0.10% owing to an increasing average technical level by improving agricultural water use efficiency; total water consumption decreases by 122 million m 3 , 69% of which comes from a reduction of surface water use; and land demand increases by 257.43 hectares mainly due to agricultural land demands. With respect to the sectors' output, export-oriented sectors with higher water intensities in the agricultural sectors benefit most. In contrast, land-intensive sectors contract the most, as the rental price of land rises. Therefore, agricultural water conservation technology should be introduced considering more in surface water. Furthermore, higher demand for agricultural land would reduce land availability for other sectors, thus inhibiting urbanization pace on a small scale.

Spatial–Temporal Evolution Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Agricultural Water Use Efficiency in Northwest China—Based on a Super-DEA Model and a Spatial Panel Econometric Model

“…An unnecessary waste of water resources may occur in agricultural production, which increases the redundancy of agricultural water input and thus reduces the AWUE. Referring to existing studies [18][19][20][21], water resources per capita and annual precipitation were used to represent water resource endowment.…”

“…Improving the level of agricultural equipment can create an efficient agricultural production system, further enhance the comprehensive production capacity, and promote the improvement of AWUE. Referring to existing studies [18][19][20][21], the degree of mechanization and effective irrigation were used to represent the level of agricultural modernization.…”

“…Since then, the total factor water use efficiency (TWUE) has gradually been recognized and applied by the academic community. On the basis of this evaluation, scholars have measured the AWUE by the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) [15,16], data envelopment analysis (DEA) [17][18][19], and other methods.…”

How High-Quality Urbanization Affects Utilization Efficiency of Agricultural Water Resources in the Yellow River Basin under Double Control Action?

“…In addition, the large-scale flood irrigation as an irrigation method formed in the history of Ningxia resulted in a large amount of water resources being lost during evaporation and leakage. Coupled with serious channel leakage and incomplete management, as well as various other factors, serious waste of freshwater resources and ecological environment damage are huge problems [64]. To meet the requirements of agriculture and other sectors of the national economy, excessive groundwater extraction is also one of the main reasons [65].…”

A Multi-Objective Hierarchical Model for Irrigation Scheduling in the Complex Canal System

“…The water-use efficiency of canal networks by artesian irrigation at Zhangye is about 0.535 in 2016 according to the water efficiency calculation and analysis report for farm irrigation of Zhangye in 2016, which is lower than the average level in China, 0.542, according to the China water resources bulletin of 2016. Such low water-use efficiency and inappropriate water resources management have further worsened the existing conflicts [35,36]. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the water-use efficiency in irrigation.…”