Lacewell, Ronald D.

July, 1998

By: Keplinger, Keith O.; McCarl, Bruce A.; Chowdhury, Manzoor E.; Lacewell, Ronald D.
A dry year irrigation suspension has been proposed as a way of reallocating water when aquifer levels are low for the Texas Edwards Aquifer. Under this program, farmers would be paid to suspend irrigation to allow more spring flow or nonagricultural pumping. When irrigation is suspended in the east, springflow response is markedly larger than when suspended in the western portions of the aquifer. Most acreage participates when a $90 per acre payment is offered before the cropping season. Considerably higher payments are needed and less water saved for a suspension program instituted during the cropping season.

July, 1996

By: Chowdhury, Manzoor E.; Lacewell, Ronald D.
This study estimates the cost effectiveness of alternative environmental policies for controlling nitrate contamination of groundwater in the Seymour aquifer region of Texas. Results from biophysical simulation model are integrated with a farm-level optimization model. The study also compares the cost of bottled water, used as the lower-bound estimate of benefits of groundwater protection, with the least costly environmental policy. Results indicate that the least-cost policy alternative for the region is about $1 million either to farmers or to the local government and it is approximately three times the cost of bottled water.