Doctoral Dissertation: Public Welfare Values of Acequia Irrigation in New Mexico

提案编号：0617951机构：美国新墨西哥大学国家科学基金项目：经济学首席研究员：Raheem， Nejem题目：博士论文：《新墨西哥州水渠灌溉的公共福利价值》然而，由于水权往往具有共同财产的要素，因此很难对水权进行评估，特别是在水权为共同所有的社区。本博士论文研究将使用一种新颖的跨学科方法来调查和量化新墨西哥州北部传统农村灌溉系统（acequias）的公共福利价值方面。调查将实施条件评估（CV）调查、公共资源池（CPR）实验和生物评估方法。虽然这些方法都很成熟，但本研究是第一次将这三种方法结合起来确定水渠灌溉对公共福利的贡献。这项研究结合了行为、环境和文化经济学以及保护生物学的工作。利用CV来评估传统农业实践是不寻常的。PIs将与新墨西哥州水渠协会合作，接触农村灌溉者。为了获得水的价值，PI将进行一项全州范围的CV调查，以确定新墨西哥人是否愿意为水权支付费用，以保留在水闸所有者和水闸系统的手中。有了这种支付意愿，本研究将调查城市和农村居民对水价的反应是否不同。这项研究将深入了解文化、经济和生物因素，这些因素导致人们对水的依恋，从而有助于新墨西哥州的公共福利。这一研究结果也将阐明影响新墨西哥州水权转让、农村倡导、水立法和农村教育计划的因素。水权的冲突是普遍存在的；更好地了解既定用途的贡献可能有助于制定减少水权冲突的政策。随着西部的城市化进程，许多团体和社区发现自己参与了水资源分配的谈判。这一结果将有助于这种对话，作为量化农村灌溉对福利贡献的第一步。对传统资源利用的文化评估和研究是一个强大的、不断发展的领域，这项研究将对新墨西哥州的这些领域做出贡献。这笔资金还将支持来自美国联邦政府研究经费相对较少的地区的研究生的研究工作，因此它将有助于将代表性不足的地区纳入NSF资助的研究。

Proposal No: 0617951 Institution: University of New Mexico NSF Program: ECONOMICS Principal Investigator: Raheem, Nejem Title: Doctoral Dissertation: Public Welfare Values of Acequia Irrigation in New Mexico ABSTRACTWater resources everywhere are of great value. Yet because they tend possess elements of common property, it is very hard to value the rights to water rights, especially in communities where water rights are communally owned. This doctoral dissertation research will use a novel, interdisciplinary approach to investigate and quantify aspects of public welfare values of traditional rural irrigation systems (acequias) in northern New Mexico. The investigation will implement a Contingent Valuation (CV) survey, Common Pool Resource (CPR) experiments, and biological assessment methods. While these methods are well established, this research is the first to combine all three to ascertain public welfare contributions of acequia irrigation. The research combines work from behavioral, environmental, and cultural economics as well as from conservation biology. The use of CV for valuing traditional agricultural practices is unusual. The PIs will partner with the New Mexico Acequia Association to access rural irrigators. To obtain the value of water, the PI will conduct a statewide CV survey to ascertain New Mexicans willingness to pay for water rights to remain in the hands of acequia owners and in acequia systems. With this willingness to pay, the research will investigate whether urban and rural residents respond differently to water prices. The research will provide insights into the cultural, economic, and biological factors that contribute to the attachment of people to acequias water, hence contribute to the public welfare of New Mexico. This result of this research will also illuminate the factors that affect the transfer of water rights, rural advocacy, water legislation, and rural education programs in New Mexico. Conflicts over water rights are universal; a better understanding of the contributions of established uses might help in crafting policies to reduce conflicts over water rights. As the west urbanizes, many groups and communities find themselves involved in negotiations about water allocation. The result of this will contribute to that dialogue as a first step in quantifying the welfare contributions of rural irrigation. Cultural valuation and research into the contributions of traditional resource use are strong and growing fields, and this research will contribute to those fields here in New Mexico. This funding will also support the research effort of a graduate student from a part of the US that receives relatively less of federal government research grants, thus it will contribute to the inclusion of under represented regions in NSF funded research.