Washington State University

Irrigated Agriculture Accounts for Roughly Half of the Total Value of Crop Sales in the United States and for About 70% of Water Withdrawals in the Western U.s., Suggesting That Agricultural Systems and Water Systems Are Strongly Interdependent. Agricultural Systems Are Also Evolving Rapidly, Driven by Changes in Food Demand, Technology, and Climate, Thus Driving Changes in How Water Is Used in Food Production and Processing.water Reallocation Is Increasingly Important for Ensuring That Water Resources Are Applied to Their Highest-valued Uses, Whether in Agriculture or Other Competing Uses. Water Allocation Is Dependent on Natural Hydrology, Built Infrastructure for Holding and Moving Water, Demand for Water Across Space and Time, and the Interests of Stakeholders and Claimants to Apply or Conserve Water. Water Allocation Is Further Framed by Institutions: Laws, Regulations, Administrative Processes, Markets, Contracts, and Informal Rules and Norms; All of Which Affect Incentives for Water Use, Conservation, and Investment. the Structure of Governance and Institutions Is in Turn Shaped by Stakeholder Incentives, Information.water Markets Can Be Powerful Tools for Allocating Water to High-valued Uses and Increasing the Productive Value of Water. Water Markets Are Increasing in Number and Transaction Volume Across the West; However, They Are Currently Hindered by Information-related Constraints and Transaction Costs That Limit Their Efficacy and Can Even Exacerbate Resource Misallocation Relative to No Market at All. for Example, Uncertainty Over Seasonal Water Availability and Consumptive Use Can Affect Planting Decisions, Limit Water Leasing Options and Irrigation Season Planning, and Increase Transaction Costs of Water Trades.many of These Challenges Can Be Mitigated With Better Information From Emerging Information Technology Systems. Indeed, Information Technology Is Already Changing the Legal and Management Landscape of Water Resources in the Western U.s. for Example, Improvements in Groundwater Modeling Have Led to Legal Challenges and a Tighter Connection Between the Legal and Regulatory Management of Surface and Groundwater Rights in Several Western States. a Large Body of Research Emphasizes the Importance of Institutional Change for More Flexible and Resilient Water Allocation Systems. More Generally, the Evolution of Governance Institutions Has Always Been Framed by Contemporaneous and Emerging Technologies, and Vice-versa.the Connections Between Technology and Institutions Is the Focus of a Rapidly Expanding Body of Research in the Social Sciences Driven by Advancements in Information Technology (IT) in the Last Decade. This Proposed Project Revolves Around the Central Hypothesis That Technology and Institutions Interact in Important Ways, and That Capitalizing on Complementarities Between the Two Can Lead to Increased Water Use Efficiency Gains and More Effective Use of New Technology.our Long-term Goal Is to Enhance Water Use Efficie,ncy and Associated Economic Gains for Irrigated Agriculture and Other Water Uses Through Improving Emerging Information Systems and Identifying Complementary Institutional Innovations That Lead to Effective Water Markets. to Pursue This Goal, We Focus on Emerging Technologies With Potential for Improving Allocative and Technical Efficiency in Their Own Right, But Also Have Clear Potential to Promote More Effective Water Law, Regulation, and Contracting Opportunities for Moving Water to Its Most Productive and Valuable Uses. Our Three Focal Emerging Technologies Are Improved Seasonal Water Forecasting, Automated Consumptive Use Monitoring, and Smart Markets for Leasing and Trading Water - That Can Increase the Technical and Allocative Efficiency of Water Consumption.our Specific Objectives Are to (1) Develop And/or Extend the Focal Technologies to Facilitate Planning, Implementation, and Monitoring/ Enforcement for Market Transactions; (2) Use Stakeholder Input to Identify Opportunities and Scenarios for Technology Adoption and Institutional Adaptation and Collect Data Through Experiments, Surveys, and Other Sources; and (3) Test and Estimate the Efficacy of Technology Adoption and Stakeholder-identified Institutional Adaptation for Improving Water Use Efficiencies in Agriculture and Competing Uses.our Testbed Is the Columbia River Basin (CRB), the Second Largest Watershed in the Continental U.s. the Diversity of Water Users, Storage Limitations (with Natural Storage Diminishing as Snowpack Decreases Due to Climate Change), and Drought Risk Create Imposing Water Management Challenges, But There Is Also Potential to Substantially Improve System-level Biophysical and Economic Water Use Efficiencies Through Water Market Improvements. Improving Water Markets Will Require Implementing Multiple Synergistic Technologies to Deliver Timely and Targeted Information to Reduce Regulatory, Information, and Transaction Costs.our Team Is Uniquely Qualified and Positioned to Succeed Due to Its Interdisciplinary Expertise in Biophysical Modeling, Economic Modeling and Survey Implementation, Water Institutions/water Rights, and Extension. a Substantial Portion of Objective 1 and the Basis for Our Stakeholder Interactions Will Leverage Work Developed in the 2016 Columbia River Basin Long-term Water Supply and Demand Forecast Project. Work Improving Researcher-stakeholder Feedback Mechanisms Related to Water for Agriculture Will Also Be Leveraged.long-term Success Hinges on Actual Adoption of Technologies and Institutional Innovation. Therefore, the Project Will Be Co-developed With Stakeholders to Minimize Barriers, Disincentives, and Impediments to Adoption. Stakeholder Engagement Is Tightly Integrated Into Each of the Objectives, With the Aim of Creating Project Deliverables That Are Pragmatic, Value-added, and Adoptable. Our Team Has Extensive Experience and Expertise in Stakeholder Engagement.