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

提案编号：0617951机构：新墨西哥州大学NSF项目：经济学主要研究者：Raheem，Nejem标题：博士论文：新墨西哥州的Acequia灌溉的公益价值摘要水资源在任何地方都具有巨大的价值。 然而，由于它们往往具有共同财产的要素，因此很难对水权的权利进行估价，特别是在水权为社区所有的社区。 本博士论文研究将采用一种新颖的跨学科方法，调查和量化北方新墨西哥州传统农村灌溉系统（acequias）的公共福利价值方面。调查将实施条件价值（CV）调查，共同池资源（CPR）实验和生物评估方法。虽然这些方法都是行之有效的，这项研究是第一个联合收割机所有三个确定公益贡献的龙舌兰灌溉。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。使用CV来评估传统农业实践是不寻常的。PI将与新墨西哥州Acequia协会合作，以获得农村灌溉。 为了获得水的价值，PI将在全州范围内进行一次CV调查，以确定新墨西哥人是否愿意为水权支付费用，以保持在Acequia所有者和Acequia系统的手中。 有了这种支付意愿，研究将调查城市和农村居民对水价的反应是否不同。 这项研究将提供深入了解文化，经济和生物因素，有助于人们的依恋水，从而有助于新墨西哥州的公共福利。这项研究的结果也将阐明影响新墨西哥州水权转让、农村宣传、水立法和农村教育计划的因素。 关于水权的冲突是普遍的;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，许多团体和社区发现自己卷入了关于水资源分配的谈判。其结果将有助于这一对话，作为量化农村灌溉的福利贡献的第一步。对传统资源利用贡献的文化评估和研究是一个强大而不断发展的领域，这项研究将有助于新墨西哥州的这些领域。 这笔资金还将支持来自美国部分地区的研究生的研究工作，该地区获得的联邦政府研究赠款相对较少，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.