Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
In certain cases, pumps that are more powerful are installed as well and the
vicious cycle not only entails more serious aquifer depletion but also deterioration
of the quality of the groundwater. Depending on other aspects of the surrounding
ecosystem, the damage could reach far beyond what is mentioned here.
Even though the scenario presented is conceptually simple, and it has been
simpli
ed for the purpose of this discussion, solving the problem would not be so
simple, given the social implications of withdrawing from the farmers the
'
of free electricity. Therefore, without other considerations, restoring the electricity
price to a rational level would not be an option.
Broadening the view, it is clear that there are additional economic prejudices
stemming from the lack of power for other productive uses (due to the over con-
sumption of electricity by the farmers), or the poor allocation of resources to replace
that power production with new sources and, depending on the technology used to
produce that power, the associated environmental consequences (greenhouse gas
emissions, direct impacts in ecosystems, etc.).
Reducing irrigation water consumption would reduce power consumption
allowing the aquifers to recover at the same time. However, the farmers have no
motivation to make such a reduction as, most likely the volume of their crops will
drop and, consequently, their income too. The introduction of an RBF approach
keeping a broader point of view in mind, as the nexus approach supports, could
prove helpful to progress towards a more rational situation.
An RBF intervention could provide the necessary incentives to motivate the
farmers to switch to more water ef
'
bene
t
cient technologies or less water-intensive crops
that will help them reduce water consumption. This would be the kick-start to revert
the cycle of aquifer depletion in the example given.
However, the RBF intervention needs to be carefully designed to avoid negative
incentives, or results opposite to what was initially sought. If farmers are not using
all their potentially useful land due to scarcity of water, the introduction of these
new technologies or crops could lead to more income, but not to a reduction in
water and power use.
This design will depend on technical studies and economic considerations, but
designed as an RBF intervention using one or more RBF tools, it will need to
consider, at least the following elements:
There might be the need to use incentives to introduce new technologies like
drip irrigation and fertilizer injectors among others.
If the incentive requires covering part of the cost of the introduction of the new
technologies through a subsidy, the sources of funding for such subsidies should
be identi
ed in advance and the funds secured before starting project
implementation.
Another element to consider as an incentive for the farmers and as part of the
economic analysis is that, reducing irrigation water consumption would also
lead to avoidance of costs of drilling deeper wells that the farmers have to incur
from time to time.
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