Incorporating Economic Analysis in Irrigation Design and Management

Abstract

Traditional principles for the design, operation, and evaluation of irrigation systems do not adequately incorporate the scarcity value of water. This paper presents an operational framework that attempts to integrate economic concepts into irrigation design and management. By means of a simple spatial optimization model, conditions are derived for optimal water allocation at each location in the system. Principles for optimal investment in distribution canals and in water conservation technology on the farm are obtained. Irrigated area and aggregate water use are determined. The potential economic benefit of the proposed model is demonstrated through an illustrative example.