Skip to main content
Log in

Inter-Basin Water Transfer Public Agreements: A Decision Approach to Quantity and Price

  • Published:
Water Resources Management Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Water transfers from regions with high rainfall and large reservoirs toregions with scarcity are currently viewed as necessary projects to assure supply and increase efficiency. In countries where most surface water is controlled by public agencies, the transfer requires a politically feasible agreement between them. Among the multiple subjects of the agreement, the present study only deals with the commercial problem of deciding the water transferable quantity and price in an equitable rational way, the decision to be agreed by the public agencies being recommended by independent experts. Aimed at the work of such experts, the paper proposes a decision stochastic approach to determine quantity and price by simulating the recipient's demand curve and the donor's supply curve for transferable water. This approach can be easily implemented using numerical tables containing geographical and economic data on the basins, which appear generally published in government surveys. A case study on the Tajo-Segura aqueduct in Spain and the recipient area of Lorca is developed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Albiac-Murillo, J., Tapia-Barcones, J., Meyer, A. and Uche, J.: 2002, 'Water Demand and Management Versus Water Supply Policy: The Ebro River Water Transfer', in World Bank Water Forum, 6–8 May 2002, Washington, D.C.

  • Ballestero, E. and Romero, C.: 1998, Multiple Criteria Decision Making and its Applications to Economic Problems, Kluwer, Dordrecht.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ballestero, E., Alarcon, S, and Garcia-Bernabeu, A.: 2002, 'Establishing politically feasible water markets: A multi-criteria approach', J. Environ. Manage. 65(4), 411–429.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berck, P. and Lipow, J.: 1994, 'Real and ideal water rights: The prospects for water-rights reform in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank', Resour. Energy Econ. 16, 287–301.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blanc, J.-L. and Imbert, F.: 1999, 'L'Aqueduct Languedoc-Rousillon-Catalogne', in Interbasin Water Transfer, Proceedings of the International Workshop, Unesco, Paris, pp. 33–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blasco, J. A. L., Marquez, J. M. M. and Cerezo, J. T.: 1999, 'El Acueducto Tajo-Segura: Experiencia Desde 1980', in Interbasin Water Transfer, Proceedings of the International Workshop, Unesco, Paris, pp. 45–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brill, E., Hochman, E. and Zilberman, D.: 1997, 'Allocation and Pricing at theWater District Level', Am. J. Agricul. Econ.79, 952–963.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burnes, H. S. and Quirk, J. P.: 1979, 'Appropriative water rights and the efficient allocation of resources', Am. Econ. Rev. 69(1), 25–37.

    Google Scholar 

  • Colby, B. G.: 1998, 'Negotiated Transactions as Conflict Resolution Mechanisms: Water Bargaining in the U.S. West', in K. W. Easter, M. W. Rosegrant and A. Dinar (eds), Markets for Water, Potential and Performance, Kluwer, Boston, pp. 77–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox, W. E.: 1999, 'Determining when Interbasin Water Transfer is Justified: Criteria for Evaluation', in Interbasin Water Transfer, Proceedings of the International Workshop, Unesco, Paris, pp. 173–178.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frisvold, G. B. and Caswell, M. S.: 1995, 'A Bargaining Model for Water Transfers Including Water Quality', in Dinar and Loehman (eds), Water Quantity/Quality Management and Conflict Resolution, Praeger Publishers, Westport (CT), Chapter 30.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hamilton, J. R., Whittlesey, N. K. and Halverson, P.: 1989, 'InterruptibleWaterMarkets in the Pacific Northwest', Am. J. Agricul. Econ. 71, 63–75.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hearne, R. R. and Easter, K. W.: 1997, 'The Economic and Financial Gains from Water Markets in Chile', Agricul. Econ. 15, 187–199.

    Google Scholar 

  • Howitt, R. E., Moore, N. and Smith, R. T.: 1992, A Retrospective on California's 1991 Emergency Drought Water Bank, California Department of Water Resources, Sacramento.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jercich, S. A.: 1997, 'California's 1995 water bank program: Purchasing water supply options', J. Water Resour. Plann. Manage. 123, 59–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • MacDonnell, L. J. and Howe, C.W.: 1986, 'Area-of-origin protection in transbasin water diversions: An evaluation of alternative approaches', University of Colorado Law Review 57, 527–548.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, http://www.mma.es/cuencas/segura/pdf/anejo1.pdf/.

  • Muller, M.: 1999, 'Interbasin Water Sharing: A South African Perspective', in Interbasin Water Transfer, Proceedings of the International Workshop, Unesco, Paris, pp. 61–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parashar, R. K.: 1999, 'Interbasin Water Transfer: Indian Scenario', in Interbasin Water Transfer, Proceedings of the International Workshop, Unesco, Paris, pp. 73–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rahman, K.: 1999, 'Interbasin Water Transfer: Bangladesh Perspective', in Interbasin Water Transfer, Proceedings of the International Workshop, Unesco, Paris, pp. 81–94.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saleth, R. M., Braden, J. B. and Eheart, J. W.: 1991, 'Bargaining rules for a thin spot water market', Land Economics 67(3), 326–339.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheuerlein, H.: 1999, 'InterbasinWater Transfer from the Danube to the Rhine Basin in Bavaria', in Interbasin Water Transfer, Proceedings of the International Workshop, Unesco, Paris, pp. 107–114.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schumann, H.: 1999, 'Water Transfer Systems for Fresh Water Supply in Germany', in Interbasin Water Transfer, Proceedings of the International Workshop, Unesco, Paris, pp. 115–122.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shah, T.: 1993, Groundwater Markets and Irrigation Development: Political Economy and Practical Policy, Oxford University Press, Bombay.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tobarra, P.: 1996, 'Coste input agua, productividad y aproximacion a la demanda de agua en el acuifero del Alto Guadalentin', Cuadernos Aragoneses de Economia 1, 77–99.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNESCO: 1999, Interbasin Water Transfer, Proceedings of the International Workshop, 25–27 April, Unesco, Paris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vasiliev, O. F. and Voropaev, G. V.: 1999, 'SIBARAL and Other Water Transfer Projects in the Former U.S.S.R.', in Interbasin Water Transfer, Proceedings of the International Workshop, Unesco, Paris, pp. 95–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank: 1993, Water Resources Management, A World Bank Policy Paper, World Bank, Washington D.C.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yelo, J. J. G.: 1997, 'Situacion actual del trasvase Tajo Segura', Revista de obras publicas 3365, 7–17.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ballestero, E. Inter-Basin Water Transfer Public Agreements: A Decision Approach to Quantity and Price. Water Resources Management 18, 75–88 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1023/B:WARM.0000015390.39862.b9

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/B:WARM.0000015390.39862.b9

Navigation