Browsing by Author "Taylor, C. R."
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Item An Economic Analysis of Agricultural Soil Loss in Crosby County, Texas(Texas Water Resources Institute, 1979-05) Reneau, D. R.; Taylor, C. R.; Harris, B. L.The Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, Public Law 92-500, established a national goal of eliminating the discharge of pollutants into the nation's waterways by 1985. As a step toward that goal an interim water quality standard of "fishable, swimmable waters nationwide" by July 1, 1983 was set. Under section 208 of this law, each state was required to establish a "continuing planning process" to define controls for agricultural non-point sources of water pollution. Section 208 calls for the development of state and area-wide water quality management plans. The plans are to include "a process to (i) identify if appropriate, agriculturally and silviculturally related non-point sources of pollution, including runoff from manure disposal areas, and from land used for livestock and crop production, and (ii) set forth procedures and methods (including land use requirements) to control to the extent feasible such sources." In an earlier group of technical reports (TR 87, 88, 90, 93, 94) in this series, a model was developed to measure the net social benefits from controlling agricultural sediment given various policy options. This was done by contrasting benefits to be gained from reducing the sediment load in a watershed against costs involved in achieving that reduction using various voluntary or mandatory policies to accomplish the reduction. It was a major conclusion of these studies that no policy which restricted soil loss to less than that which was economically desirable from the farmers own viewpoint would generate benefits greater than the costs involved. This finding, in the watersheds of major sediment control concern lead to a decision to change the base area for this report to a county instead of a watershed and to only deal with the on-farm consequences of various management practices. These on-farm consequences would include the changes in topsoil loss and the yield losses that result from losing topsoil. Also included are profit levels that could be expected from different management practices and how the present value of a stream of these profits would vary over various planning horizons.Item An Economic Analysis of Agricultural Soil Loss in Mitchell County, Texas(Texas Water Resources Institute, 1979-03) Taylor, C. R.; Reneau, D. R.; Harris, B. L.The Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, Public Law 92-500, established a national goal of eliminating the discharge of pollutants into the nation's waterways by 1985. As a step toward that goal an interim water quality standard of "fishable, swimmable waters nationwide" by July 1, 1983 was set. Under section 208 of this law, each state was required to establish a "continuing planning process" to define controls for agricultural nonpoint sources of water pollution. Section 208 calls for the development of state and area-wide water quality management plans. The plans are to include "a process to (i) identify if appropriate, agriculturally and silviculturally related non-point sources of pollution, including runoff from manure disposal areas, and from land used for livestock and crop production, and (ii) set forth procedures and methods (including land use requirements) to control to the extent feasible such sources." In an earlier group of technical reports (TR 87, 88, 90, 93) in this series a model was developed to measure the net social benefits from controlling agricultural sediment given various policy options. This was done by contrasting benefits to be gained from reducing the sediment load in a watershed against costs involved in achieving that reduction using various voluntary or mandatory policies to accomplish the reduction. It was a major conclusion of these studies that no policy that restricted soil loss to less than that which was economically desirable from the farmers own viewpoint would generate benefits greater than the costs involved. This finding, in the watersheds of major sediment control concern lead to a decision to change the base area for this report to a county instead of a watershed and to only deal with the on-farm consequences of various management practices. These on-farm consequences would include the changes in topsoil loss and the yield losses that result from losing topsoil. Also included are profit levels that could be expected from different management practices and how the present value of a stream of these profits would vary over different planning horizons.Item An Economic Analysis of Erosion and Sediment Damage in the Duck Creek Watershed, Dickens County, Texas(Texas Water Resources Institute, 1978-08) Harris, B. L.; Reneau, D. R.; Taylor, C. R.The Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments of 1972, Public Law 92-500, established a national goal of eliminating the discharge of pollutants into the nation's waterways by 1985. As a step toward that goal an interim water quality standard of "fishable, swimmable waters nationwide" by July 1, 1983 was determined. Under section 208 of this law, each state was required to establish a "continuing planning process" to define controls for agricultural non-point sources of water pollution. Section 208 calls for the development of state and area-wide water quality management plans The plans are to include "a process to (i) identify if appropriate? agriculturally and silviculturally related non-point sources of pollution, including runoff from manure disposal areas, and from land used for livestock and crop production, and (ii) set forth procedures and methods (including land use requirements) to control to the extent feasible such sources." The water quality issue of concern in this study is fertilizer and pesticide residuals carried into waterways by sediment. Since sediment is a potential transporter of pollutants, practices to control agricultural non-point source pollution would probably be aimed at reducing soil loss. Conservation and conservation related practices are, at present, considered the best technical practices to abate agricultural non-point source pollution. This study examines the economic impact of various policies that could be used to reduce soil loss. Both regulatory and voluntary policies are considered. Economic impacts examined include: (a) impacts of the policies on farm income; (b) government costs associated with the policies, including administration costs; (c) off-site sediment damages that would be abated; and (d) social desirability of the policies. The first section of the report describes the selected "Best Management Practices" and examines the on-farm economics of soil conservation. Then, the second section postulates various sediment damage control options and models the economic consequences, both to agricultural producers as a group? and to society of implementing them.Item An Economic Analysis of Erosion and Sediment Damage in the Lower Running Draw Watershed(Texas Water Resources Institute, 1978-08) Mueller, P. E.; Lacewell, R. D.; Harris, B. L.; Reneau, D. R.; Taylor, C. R.The development and implementation of agricultural non-point source (NPS) pollution control plans was mandated by the 1972 Federal Pollution Control Act Amendments, Public Law 92-500. The purpose of this particular report is to present the results of a study on the economic impact of implementing potential agricultural NPS pollution controls in Lower Running Water Draw watershed. The study focuses on: (a) the effects of erosion control on farm income, (b) off-site sediment damages in the watershed; (c) the costs of administering and enforcing alternative erosion controls, and (d) on-farm economics of soil conservation practices. Erosion controls considered include the traditional voluntary programs combined with economic incentives as well as possible regulatory programs. The focus of the study is on erosion and sedimentation because sediment is a potential transporter of pollutants. Practices to control agricultural non-point source pollution would probably be aimed at reducing soil loss. Conservation and conservation related practices are, at present, considered the best technical practices to abate agricultural non-point source pollution. This is a study of both conservation and environmental economics, two areas that tend to be closely related. For this project, the concern was over potential pollution (an off-site problem), but because of long-run farm income consequences, this concern cannot be separated from conservation problems (an on-farm problem). Accordingly, the report contains substantial information on the short and long-run on-farm benefits and costs of various soil conservation practices for the specific soil mapping units in Lower Running Water Draw watershed. The results of this study are applicable to the majority of the soils in the High Plains Land Resource Area. Only sheet and rill erosion are considered in the study. The first section of the report describes the selected "Best Management Practices" and examines the on-farm economics of soil conservation. The second section postulates various sediment damage control options and models the economic consequences of implementation, both to agricultural producers as a group, and to society.Item An Economic Analysis of Erosion and Sedimentation in Lavon Reservoir Watershed(Texas Water Resources Institute, 1978-10) Harris, B. L.; Reneau, D. R.; Taylor, C. R.Public Law 92-500 - the 1972 Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments - mandates the analysis of agricultural non-point source (NPS) pollution controls. This report presents the results of a study of the economic impact of implementing potential agricultural NPS pollution controls in the watershed above Lavon Reservoir. The study focuses on: (a) effects of erosion controls on farm income, (b) off-side sediment damages in the watersheds; (c) costs of administering and enforcing alternative erosion-sedimentation controls, and (d) effects of adopting cotton pest management methods. Erosion controls considered include possible regulatory programs as well as voluntary programs combined with economic incentives. While the stimulus for this study was concern over pollution (an off-site problem) it can not, because of long-run farm income consequences, be separated from conservation problems (an on-farm problem). Thus, the study is as much an analysis of conservation economics as it is an analysis of environmental economics. Accordingly, the report contains substantial information on the short and long-run on-farm benefits and costs of various soil conservation practices for all soil mapping units in Lavon watershed The results are applicable to much of the Blackland Prairies Land Resource area.Item Economically Optimum Agricultural Utilization of a Reclaimed Water Resource in the Texas Rolling Plains(Texas Water Resources Institute, 1980-09) Lacewell, R. D.; Taylor, C. R.; Zacharias, T.The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (COE) has proposed a project that would reduce the flow from saline springs and seeps within the groundwater alluvium of the Red River Basin. While the amount of salts moving through the alluvium would be controlled by the project, total water quantity would not be appreciably affected. Presently, salinity levels in the basin are quite high, making irrigated agriculture an infeasible alternative. In areas affected by salinity, salts accumulate in the active root zone, thereby restricting the availability of soil moisture to the crop and reducing yield. To counteract the deleterious presence of the salts, extra irrigation water is applied to "leach" the salts below the active root zone thus maintaining the yield at some specified level. Waters containing over 13,000 parts per million (ppm) salts have been sampled by the COE in the Pease River watershed (a subsector of the entire area to be impacted by the project). It is estimated that installation of the project would reduce this level to approximately 3000 ppm. Although 3000 ppm is not below the tolerance threshold of most plants, rainfall in the area is sufficient to act as a natural leaching agent. The purpose of this study was to estimate the response of the agricultural sector to the project. A recursive linear program was designed in such a manner that the time path of producer adjustments to the reclaimed water source could be estimated. The Pease River watershed was chosen due to the sizable reduction in the salinity due to the proposed project, relative to other areas within the basin. By considering only a single watershed, the adoption process could be more closely studied. Two scenarios were considered in the analysis in an attempt to better understand the effects of the initial assumptions on the measure of project benefits. The first scenario applied guidelines established by the Water Resources Council (WRC). WRC guidelines required the use of OBERS SERIES E' yield projections, normalized prices, and an interest rate of 7.125 percent to discount future costs and benefits. The second scenario applied in alternative criteria, which assumed no trend in yield, a three-year average of current prices, and a real interest rate of 2.5 percent. Since probabilistic estimates indicating the improvement in water quality through time were unavailable from the COE, it was assumed that all improvement in water quality occurred linearly over time, with full water quality improvement in the tenth year. The adjustment process was then evaluated over a twenty year horizon. Several irrigation strategies were considered for each crop, thereby allowing the model to select an optimal leaching policy given the level of water quality for any point in time. The linear programming model maximized expected net returns from representative crop enterprises on the basis of a three-year moving average of past actual yields. This means expected yield in the linear programming model was slightly less than actual yield for any particular year. When all improvements in water quality had taken place and the model achieved steady state, the economically optimal allocation of the water resource had been determined. Results from the study indicated that a policy of rapid adoption should be undertaken. In the initial year, a 40 percent leaching fraction was economically feasible on limited acreage. Dryland production then shifted quickly to irrigation as water quality improved. Water use also shifted, moving from a 40 percent to a 20 percent leaching fraction. By the ninth year of the analysis, all adjustment's had occurred and a 10 percent leaching fraction was economically optimal on all irrigated acreage. Due to its profitability and for relative salt tolerance, cotton was the only irrigated activity chosen by the model. An optimal cropping pattern of 55,121 acres of irrigated cotton, 14,437 acres of dryland cotton and 7,728 acres of native pasture was selected by the model under the first scenario. For the second, scenario, the optimal cropping pattern consisted of 55,703 acres of irrigated cotton and 25,583 acres of dryland alfalfa. The estimated net present value of benefits attributable to the project over the 20 year planning horizon was approximately $16 million and $30 million for the first and second scenarios, respectively.Item Economically Optimum Irrigation Patternsfor Grain Sorghum Production: Texas High Plains(Texas Water Resources Institute, 1979-03) Zavaleta, L. R.; Lacewell, R. D.; Taylor, C. R.Agricultural production and associated economic effects of irrigation on the Texas High Plains are seriously threatened by a rapidly declining groundwater supply and a swift upward trend in energy costs. To optimize the amount of irrigation water to be applied during specified periods of the production process, a stochastic open-loop feedback control policy was built into a grain sorghum growth simulation model. The control policy operated under the basis of constant revision of the expectations generated at every starting point for each of the production periods. If discrepancies between the expected and the realized values existed, then, based on current conditions a reevaluation of the control variable, irrigation water, was made and the decision for the first period adopted. This process continued throughout each period of the growing season. Within the stochastic policy designed, the values for the control variable were obtained by numerical search. The model was applied to estimate optimal irrigation strategies and the impact of fuel curtailments on them. Initially, optimal irrigation strategies were developed under the assumption of perfect knowledge. Under this assumption, the results indicated there was not a unique strategy to be applied at all times. The quantities of irrigation water to apply at each period depended on the initial or starting conditions. Since one of the purposes of building the model was to make it perform under stochastic or real world conditions, the assumption of complete knowledge was relaxed to consider the case where the climatic environment was unknown. As in the deterministic case, the optimal amounts of irrigation water, by period. It was also observed, that with the open-loop feedback control, the results obtained for yields did not differ substantially from those obtained in the perfect knowledge case. The discrepancies among the two cases were primarily in the optimal amount of water applied and therefore in net returns. In the stochastic case, the use of irrigation water had a mean value approximately 25 percent more than in the case of perfect knowledge. The effect of a fuel or irrigation curtailment was estimated for alternative time spans. When curtailments had a length of 10 days, there were no perceptible changes in the amount of net returns or yields, as compared to the no-curtailment case. The implication drawn was that by having frequent irrigation periods and applying optimal amounts of water, the adverse effects of 10-day curtailment periods were buffered. The cases of twenty and thirty-day periods were found to have highly negative effects on the outcomes, especially net revenues, which decreased about 50 percent (from $99 to $50) in the curtailment case of 40 - 70 days after plant emergence compared to the no-curtailment value. The effects were not only on a decreased amount of returns perceived but also on an increased spectrum of relative fluctuation (from 18 percent to 68 percent for the same situations mentioned above). It was also found that for the same time-span type of curtailments the effects were conditioned to the period in which they Occurred. However, the 20 or 30 day curtailment period might be applicable to much shorter actual fuel curtailment periods. Producers lose not only the time of fuel curtailments, but also, they must cover many acres with a limited number of wells. As a result, a 10-day fuel curtailment could easily result in a 20 to 30 day delayed irrigation. To summarize, improved irrigation distribution technology could result in increased yields and less irrigation water by simply having very close control on timing and quantity of water applied.Item Erosion and Sediment Damages and Economic Impacts of Potential 208 Controls: A Summary of Five Watershed Studies in Texas(Texas Water Resources Institute, 1979-01) Taylor, C. R.; Reneau, D. R.; Harris, B. L.This report summarizes results of economic analyses of erosion and sedimentation in five agricultural watersheds in Texas (see fig. 1). Economic analyses of the study areas considered both the on-farm economics of soil conservation and the economic consequences of various sedimentation control options. These topics were joined in the studies because they deal with different facets of the same problem. Unlike some potential pollutants, soil particles transported from a farmer's field that may become a problem downstream are a valuable resource, not a waste product. Because soil is valuable in itself, some level of soil conservation is going to be economically desirable even if downstream damages are not present or are not considered by the farmer. Results of the studies show that soil conservation does indeed pay in many situations and that its value is greater the longer the planning horizon of a farmer. This suggests that an educational program in this regard may reduce sediment damage while increasing farm income at the same time . Sediment can cause environmental damage (off-site costs) both directly and indirectly. Directly, the soil particles can cause environmental damage by filling up reservoirs and flood control structures and by deposition in other places. Indirectly, sediment can cause environmental costs by carrying plant nutrients that are potential pollutants. For the study watersheds, no evidence was found that the concentration of plant nutrients in the water posed health hazards to livestock or humans, nor caused undue eutrophication in the watersheds. Consequently, the study focused on off-site sediment damages resulting from shortened economic lives of reservoir and flood control structures and from sediment deposition in the watershed. Annualized off-site sediment damages ranged from a high of 26 cents per ton of gross erosion in Lake Lavon watershed to 14 cents per ton of gross erosion in Duck Creek, to 13.5 cents per ton of gross erosion in Lower Running Water Draw, to a negligible amount in Turkey Creek and Cameron County. These estimates are considerably lower than off-site sediment damages in corn belt watersheds (Lee & Guntermann). Policy Options for Controlling Sediment Public policies that can be implemented to abate off-site sediment damages include direct regulation, provision of economic incentives, education, and public investment. For point sources of pollutants, regulations are typically directed toward the pollutant at or near the point of emission into waterways. However, this is infeasible with non-point sources such as sediment because they enter waterways at an infinite number of points. Hence, regulations must be directed toward the practices that cause erosion and thus sedimentation. The economic incentive option includes alternatives such as Federal or State cost-sharing for adoption of conservation practices, and disincentives such as taxes or penalties on erosion. Education is a viable policy option in situations where producers are not adopting soil conservation practices that would be profitable. In these situations a successful education program would increase producer's income as well as reducing off-site sediment damages. Public investment could be used to pay for dredging sediment from reservoirs and flood control structures to prevent loss of flood control, water supply and recreational benefits. Social benefits and costs of various policy options based on direct regulation, taxation, and provision of economic incentives were estimated for three watersheds: Lake Lavon, Duck Creek, and Lower Running Water Draw. Items considered in the benefit-cost analysis were: (a) farm income consequences; (b) off-site sediment damages abated; (c) governmental cost or revenue; and (d) administration and enforcement costs associated with each policy. The major conclusion of this social benefit and cost analysis is that off-site damages are not large enough to warrant controls on agricultural activities in any of the watersheds; that is, the costs to society of controls exceed the total benefits to society for all of the policy options considered. Another conclusion is that an education program that emphasizes the on-farm profitability of conservation practices may reduce sediment damages while simultaneously increasing farm income.