Economics of Irrigation

Economics of Irrigation

Faculty Lead(s): Kristi Hansen

Drought and water availability can be a significant concern for farms and ranches in Wyoming. Farms and ranches rely on precipitation and irrigation supplies for livestock forage crop production. How producers irrigate can also affect provision of water-based ecosystem services in the region, such as artificial wetlands from flood-irrigated meadows and instream flows for fish.  This project explores farm- and ranch-level decision-making around different irrigation methods and management strategies.

Potential student research projects include:

1) Evaluation of financial and economic trade-offs between irrigation methods (for example flood versus center pivot or transition to dryland crops) in response to changing water availability or changes in policy. under alternative water availability scenarios;

2) Analysis of different irrigation regime impacts on farm/ranch-level economic outcomes; or

3) Quantification of the economic benefits of ecosystem service provision associated with different irrigation methods.