NMSU’s Water Policy Analysis Research Capabilities

• Frank A. Ward, Professor• NMSU College of Agriculture, Consumer, and

Environmental Sciences• Guests: Comisión Estatal de Aguas del Estado

de Querétaro • September 27, 2010

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Water Policy Challenges

• Global – Water conservation to promote food security for

growing population– Eliminating water poverty

• Drinking water • Sanitation

– Peaceful sharing of transboundary waters– Finding flexible institutions to allocate water with

• Drought• Climate change

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Water Policy Challenges

• New Mexico, USA– Low cost safe water supply for rural areas.– Meet delivery requirements to TX and MX– Maximize economic benefits produced by very

scarce water (about 1 MAF/year in RG Basin)– Affordable water conservation– Efficient transfers from farms to cities– Water rights adjudication

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Water Policy Challenges• Queretaro, MX

– Sustainability of groundwater pumping– Pricing water for justice and sustainability– Low cost measures for safe and reliable supplies in

rural areas. (e.g., solar pumps)– Sustainable surface water use

• Panuco Basin• Lerma-Santiago

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Informing policy with science• Integrated River Basin Analysis (IRBA)

– Hydrology– Agronomy– Economics– Institutions and Policies

• River Basins in Queretaro– east-bound Panuco Basin, drains to Gulf– west-bound Lerma-Santiago, drains to Pacific.

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Hypothetical BasinWatershed runoff

Reservoir

Irrigated crops

Flooding

Urban water supply

Groundwater

Fish and wildlife

Treaty obligation

Hydropower

Compact Obligation

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Rio Grande Basin

Basin Schematic Uses• Engages stakeholders• Promote stakeholder consensus• Promote stakeholder debate• Summarizes sources, uses, and values• Tool for policy analysis• Tool for policy experiments

– Hydrologic– Economic– Agronomic– Institutions (compatibility, needed adjustments)

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Rio Grande de Santiago, Mexico

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Informing policy with science• Data

– Supplies (headwater flows)• Past patterns• Future patterns (climate change)

– Demands• Past (cities, agriculture)• Future (growing cities, changing agriculture)

– Technology• Past (old)• Future (new)

– Population, Demographics (past, future)– Economic Value of water in alternative uses

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Informing policy with science• Policy choices (institutions)

– Promoting conservation • Agriculture • Urban use

– Adjudicating water rights– Establishing Water markets– Pricing

• Social justice• Revenue sustainability• Economic efficiency

– Regulating groundwater pumping 11

Informing policy with science• Policy choices (infrastructure)

– Pipes into homes– Small scale water filtration – Facilities (e.g., treatment, recycling, reuse)– Private groundwater development– Supply solar panels for pumping– low flow showerheads– Build, expand reservoirs– Rehab ditches– Radio telemetry

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Recent Research findings(NMSU)

• Rio Grande Basin, US-MX – Subsidizing drip irrigation can increase water use– Two-tiered pricing can conserve water while

promoting social justice• Nile Basin, Egypt

– Water trading can increase income by 5-7%• Balkh Basin, Afghanistan

– Investing in better water shortage sharing institutions: raise farm income and food security

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Toshka Project, Egypt

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Afghan Irrigation

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Planned Research (NMSU) • Rio Grande Basin, US-MX

– What does it cost to use water sustainably?– What are the benefits of water rights adjudication?– Groundwater storage / recovery

• Nile Basin, Egypt– Least cost ways to accommodate Egypt’s growing

populations• Euphrates (Turkey, Syria, Iraq)

– How to promote development in Iraq with falling supplies (drought, dams, climate change)

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More Water Use Benefits, Iraq

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Comments?

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