Cutting the Loss from Federal Irrigation Water Subsidies

Keywords

Irrigation water, Taxpaying, Irrigation, Subsidies, Farmlands, Land ownership, Dams, Water consumption, Farmers

Abstract

The Bureau of Reclamation recently announced that its prime mission since 1902--building dams to make the desert bloom in the American West--is pretty much complete. While never really admitting that its newer projects have been economically infeasible, Bureau management has at last recognized that the days of the big public water project are gone. The Bureau now plans to turn its attention and resources to other more pressing problems, such as helping other agencies with construction projects needed to cope with hazardous waste.

But getting the Bureau out of the dam-building business goes only part of the way toward solving some critical economic problems. For the Bureau policies have left a legacy--irrigation projects that supply water to farmers at subsidized prices--that will continue to impose costs on society greater than the benefits they provide. It is now time to take some steps also to bring those costs and benefits more into line

Original Publication Citation

Cutting the Loss from Federal Water Subsidies, (with Ray G. Huffaker), Choices, Fourth Quarter, 1988, pp.24-26.

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

1988-10

Permanent URL

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/5480

Publisher

Agricultural and Applied Economics Association

Language

English

College

Family, Home, and Social Sciences

Department

Economics

University Standing at Time of Publication

Full Professor

Link to Full Text

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