Irrigation costs and prices are increasing in most regions of the United States. This is due to a combination of rising scarcity, increasing energy prices, and rising awareness of climate change and the lack of water availability. These issues have encouraged public officials to use water pricing and other incentives as a tool to motivate further improvements in water use efficiency in agriculture and other sectors. Many parts of the U.S. have been battling drought, and the world population is ever increasing. In 1961 the world population was 3 billion, now it has more than doubled at almost 7.5 billion people (U.S. Census Bureau.) Irrigated area increased from about 139 million hectares to 263 hectares (Howell 2001.) Average use of …show more content…
Water laws and allocations were established long ago in the dry western states, given the region’s climate and the tendency for water demands to exceed water supply in many areas (Gollehon.) Water policies are much less developed in the wet eastern states, where water supplies have generally been ample to meet demands, except during rare cases of drought. There is a much longer history of defining water rights, enforcing water allocations, and pricing irrigation water deliveries in western states.
Institutional arrangements greatly influence the prices that farmers pay for irrigation water in western states. Water prices can vary substantially within a small region if some farmers have senior or riparian water rights while other farmers purchase water from a public or private purveyor. In some states, the price gap has narrowed in recent years, as new water contracts have replaced older agreements that were crafted when water supplies were less scarce. Still, there is notable disparity in irrigation water prices and, consequently, in the ways in which irrigation water is …show more content…
Bureau of Reclamation at the federal level and Downey California’s water conservation district at the county level both support the conservation of water and understand the increasing water demand and decreasing supply is something that needs to be dealt with promptly. They have both started taking steps to help resolve this water issue. Hundreds of other counties across the U.S. facing water shortage have put into place mandatory water reductions and they have proven to be successful and have helped resolve the water shortage small steps at a time, which adds up to large gains on the water shortage. The USBR is very effective at improving the water conservation, and helping improve the lack of water our country has because of the increasing demand. They are the largest wholesaler of water in the country. They bring water to more than 31 million people and provide one out of five Western farmers with irrigation water for 10 million acres of farmland that produce 60% of the nation's vegetables and 25% of its fruits and nuts