2011-2012 Efficient Irrigation for Water Conservation in the Rio Grande Basin Progress and Accomplishments

Abstract

During the past year, the RGBI Economics Team completed various technical reports and professional journals and presented findings on RGBI water-resource issues to local, statewide, and national audiences. Key topics included: 1) business economics of desalination water-treatment facilities; 2) mitigation cost investigations of increased off-site sediment runoff and nutrients associated with biofuels production; 3) economic and water conservation effects of drip irrigation compared to traditional strategies such as furrow or flood; 4) health-related economic analysis of water quality and household treatment/delivery systems; 5) impacts of analytical techniques involving discounting for time; and 6) regional market economics affected by changing water supply and demand from dynamic climate conditions and increasing population.