Irrigated agriculture in Italy and water regulation under the European Union water framework directive

Abstract

[1] The legal framework in the EU is faced today with the new water framework directive (WFD) (60/2000) that sets up new criteria for water management, regulation, and pricing. The aim of this paper is to analyze the problem of water regulation in agriculture in connection to the WFD. This is done by setting up and testing a simulation model based on the integration of a mathematical programming model at farm level and an optimal regulation model at the level of irrigation boards. The model allows quantifying water demand and optimal regulation from the policy maker's point of view. When implementing both full cost recovery and the polluter pays principle, the results show likely major impacts of water pricing on farm income and employment. The optimal policy is a combination of pricing instruments related at the same time to crop mix, water consumption, and pollution. Transaction costs connected to policy implementation have to be weighted against the incentive benefits of volumetric pricing. Altogether, economic, social, and environmental issues have to be carefully considered in order to design suitable water policies.

Ecological classification of a set of Mediterranean reservoirs applying the EU Water Framework Directive: A reasonable compromise between science and management

“…Several implementations of the WFD have been published focusing on streams (Oberdorff et al 2002, Munné andPrat 2004), coastal waters (Panayotidis et al 2004) and water management for agriculture (Bazzani et al 2004). There are numerous examples of protocols and applications for lakes and other surface waters (Bernard and Ecological classification of reservoirs Kerekes 1982, Wetzel 2001.…”

Hydro-economic Modeling in River Basin Management: Implications and Applications for the European Water Framework Directive

“…Applications of economic water management concepts include water pricing policies for irrigation (e.g., Mejías et al 2004;Bazzani et al 2004) and urban supply (e.g., Garcia and Reynaud 2004) water rights and marketing (e.g., Booker and Young 1994); agricultural policies (e.g., Mejías et al 2004), salinity (e.g., Lee and Howitt 1996) and pollution control (e.g., Shortle and Dunn 1986). Many of these investigations recognize the importance of stakeholder involvement.…”

Effects of Irrigation-Water Pricing on the Profitability of Mediterranean Woody Crops

“…Works related with irrigation water management in Mediterranean crops are: Gurovich (2002) studied the energy cost of irrigating the Chilean table grape; Hearne and Easter (1997) analyzed the impact of applying water markets to the cultivation of fresh grapes; Bazzani et al (2004) investigated the effects of putting into practice the Water Framework Directive in Europe; Jorge et al (2003) carried out an economic evaluation of the consequences of drought on the Mediterranean crops; and Fernández-Zamudio et al (2007) obtained irrigation water demand curves for the Spanish table-grape.…”