Doctoral Dissertation Research: Access Regimes and Irrigation Technology: Where Does the Water "Soft Path" for Agriculture Lead?

博士论文研究：获取制度与灌溉技术：农业用水“软路”通向何方？

• 批准号: 1433176
• 负责人: Wendy Jepson
• 金额: $ 0.94万
• 依托单位: Texas A&M University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-08-01 至 2017-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1433176&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Access; Regimes

Water conservation technologies and policies are increasingly adopted for agriculture in semi-arid environments as demand increases while supplies dwindle. The roll-out of these devices is tied to a broader trend in water policy that advocates a "water soft path" (WSP), or the use of flexible technologies and demand-management policies for environmental and social sustainability. This project investigates the roll-out of this WSP, the adoption of WSP, and socio-economic outcomes for rural communities. Although WSP has been advocated and implemented widely, there is little existing research on the processes and outcomes of WSP projects as it relates to user access to water resources, particularly for agricultural production in rural areas. This project contributes to research and education integration because the researchers will share data and results with water managers. It promotes training and learning, as data from the project will roll into learning modules for undergraduate courses and geography courses at an international baccalaureate certified secondary school. Furthermore, the project trains a doctoral student in data collection, analysis, and scientific outreach.This research investigates how the water soft path creates new pathways of accessing and using water resources that contribute to larger processes of social and political change in the countryside. The working hypothesis for this research is that irrigation-efficiency devices and the institutional framework supporting them provide new pathways for some farmers to access to water resources for agricultural production. This project addresses the major research question through an empirical case study of water-soft path in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato, a major agricultural exporter to the United States. The research design uses a reproducible mixed-method approach, including interviews, participant observation, questionnaires, and surveys. This project will: (1) Describe how WSP emerged in response to scientific and regional discourses of water scarcity; (2) Examine the mechanisms required to gain access to and benefit from irrigation efficiency devices in the countryside; and (3) Explain how irrigation efficiency devices offer farmers opportunities to respond to water scarcity and continue cultivating land under conditions of climate change.

由于需求增加而供应减少，半干旱环境中的农业越来越多地采用节水技术和政策。这些设备的推出与水政策中倡导“水软路径”（WSP）的更广泛趋势有关，即使用灵活的技术和需求管理政策来实现环境和社会的可持续性。本项目调查了该WSP的推广、采用以及农村社区的社会经济成果。虽然水方案得到了广泛的提倡和实施，但目前关于水方案项目的过程和结果的研究很少，因为它涉及到水资源的用户获取，特别是农村地区的农业生产。该项目有助于研究和教育的整合，因为研究人员将与水资源管理者共享数据和结果。它促进了培训和学习，因为项目数据将被纳入国际学士学位认证中学的本科课程和地理课程的学习模块。此外，该项目还培养了一名数据收集、分析和科学推广方面的博士生。本研究探讨了水软路径如何创造获取和利用水资源的新途径，从而促进农村社会和政治变革的更大进程。这项研究的工作假设是，灌溉效率设备和支持它们的制度框架为一些农民获得农业生产用水提供了新的途径。本项目通过对墨西哥中部瓜纳华托州水软路径的实证案例研究来解决主要的研究问题，瓜纳华托州是对美国的主要农产品出口国。研究设计采用可重复的混合方法，包括访谈、参与观察、问卷调查和问卷调查。本项目将：(1)描述科进是如何应对水资源短缺的科学和区域论述的；(2)审查在农村获得和受益于灌溉效率装置所需的机制；(3)解释灌溉效率装置如何为农民提供应对水资源短缺和在气候变化条件下继续耕种土地的机会。