Abstract
In this chapter the authors argue that the major problem in water resources around the world is water management rather than water availability. We identify several sources of distortion and several avenues to increase the productivities of water. First, subsidization of water or energy available for irrigation leads to underinvestment in modern irrigation technologies. These technologies could increase the water use efficiency of plants and result in lower levels of deep percolation, and runoff. Second, underinvestment in conveyance capital leads to loss of water resources and underproduction. Third, using a water rights regime that bars trading in water leads to underinvestment in modern technology and under utilization of resources. The chapter offers efficient solutions to this problem using price mechanisms and introducing markets.
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Zilberman, D., Chakravorty, U., Shah, F. (1997). Efficient Management of Water in Agriculture. In: Parker, D.D., Tsur, Y. (eds) Decentralization and Coordination of Water Resource Management. Natural Resource Management and Policy, vol 10. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6117-0_14
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-6117-0_14
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