Irrigation-Dependent Wetlands Versus Instream Flow Enhancement: Economics of Water Transfers from Agriculture to Wildlife Uses

Abstract

Irrigated agriculture throughout western North America faces increasing pressure to transfer water to nonagricultural uses, including instream flows for fish and wildlife management. In an important case, increased instream flows are needed in Nebraska's Platte River for recovery of threatened and endangered fish and wildlife species. Irrigated agriculture in the Laramie Basin of southeast Wyoming is a potential water source for the effort to enhance instream flow. However, flood irrigation of hayfields in the Laramie Basin has created many wetlands, both ephemeral and permanent, over the last century. Attempting to increase Platte River instream flows by purchasing water rights or improving irrigation efficiency in the Laramie Basin would transform irrigated agriculture, causing a substantial fraction of the Laramie Basin's wetlands to be lost. A creative solution is needed to prevent the sacrifice of one ecosystem on behalf of another. A rotating short-term water-leasing program is proposed. The program allows Laramie Basin producers to contribute to instream flows while continuing to support local wetlands. Permanent wetland desiccation is prevented and regional environmental water needs are met without impairing local ecological resources. Budget analysis is used to provide an initial cost estimate for acquiring water from agriculture through the short-term leasing program. The proposed approach is more expensive than traditional programs but allows contribution to instream flows without major wetland loss. Short-term leasing is a more efficient approach if benefits from wetlands exceed the difference in cost between the short-term lease program and programs that do not conserve wetlands.

Environmental characteristics, landscape history and pressures on three coastal lagoons in the Southern Mediterranean Region: Merja Zerga (Morocco), Ghar El Melh (Tunisia) and Lake Manzala (Egypt)

“…Such allocations are a relatively new development even in western nations where most study has been undertaken on rivers and riverine wetlands rather than coastal lagoon (e.g. Lemly et al, 2000;Peck et al, 2004;Reid & Quinn, 2004;Kingsford & Auld, 2005). The establishment of appropriate allocations of water to lagoons and other wetlands will require detailed assessment of their functioning and could benefit from hydro-ecological modelling such as described by Rasmussen et al (2009a, b).…”

Modelling water-level options for ecosystem services and assessment of climate change: Loktak Lake, northeast India

“…Significant advances in the development of these environmental flows have been made in North America (e.g. Peck et al 2004) and Australia (e.g. Harman andStewardson 2005, Kingsford andAuld 2005).…”

Environmental science and management of coastal lagoons in the Southern Mediterranean Region: key issues revealed by the MELMARINA Project

“…This is a relatively recent concept most frequently applied to riverine wetlands (e.g. Peck et al, 2004;Reid & Quinn, 2004;Kingsford & Auld, 2005), and its introduction to the SMR would be a new but not an administratively trivial development.…”