Estimating Willingness to Pay to Protect Acequia Irrigation and Culture: Lessons from San Miguel County, NM

[EN] Traditional gravity fed irrigation systems in Hispano communities in New Mexico, USA, are referred to as acequias. Water scarcity is currently motivating negotiations between acequias and municipalities over sharing agreements. Research on willingness to pay to protect and maintain acequias is still scarce. These valuation data could be helpful to improve the quality of water resources decision making and therefore rural development strategies in this region, which is relatively poor compared to the US average. Data from an open-ended CVM survey are used to examine WTP for a program designed to strengthen and perpetuate irrigation and culture on the acequias of El Río de las Gallinas, in rural northeastern New Mexico. Results indicate that the community supports the program in general, with higher levels of support among rural residents and Anglos.Raheem, N. (2015). Estimating Willingness to Pay to Protect Acequia Irrigation and Culture: Lessons from San Miguel County, NM. En Irrigation, Society and Landscape. Tribute to Tom F. Glick. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 963-987. https://doi.org/10.4995/ISL2014.2014.205OCS96398

Defining Ecological Drought for the Twenty-First Century

THE RISING RISK OF DROUGHT. Droughts of the twenty-first century are characterized by hotter temperatures, longer duration, and greater spatial extent, and are increasingly exacerbated by human demands for water. This situation increases the vulnerability of ecosystems to drought, including a rise in drought-driven tree mortality globally (Allen et al. 2015) and anticipated ecosystem transformations from one state to another—for example, forest to a shrubland (Jiang et al. 2013). When a drought drives changes within ecosystems, there can be a ripple effect through human communities that depend on those ecosystems for critical goods and services (Millar and Stephenson 2015). For example, the “Millennium Drought” (2002–10) in Australia caused unanticipated losses to key services provided by hydrological ecosystems in the Murray–Darling basin—including air quality regulation, waste treatment, erosion prevention, and recreation. The costs of these losses exceeded AUD $800 million, as resources were spent to replace these services and adapt to new drought-impacted ecosystems (Banerjee et al. 2013). Despite the high costs to both nature and people, current drought research, management, and policy perspectives often fail to evaluate how drought affects ecosystems and the “natural capital” they provide to human communities. Integrating these human and natural dimensions of drought is an essential step toward addressing the rising risk of drought in the twenty-first century

Recommendations for the collection, analysis, and synthesis of further economic data to support informed decision-making regarding the Lower Churchill River Hydroelectric Project

In 2009, the Environmental Policy Unit coordinated a joint response from faculty and staff at Memorial University to Nalcor Energy's Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for its proposed 3,074 MW Lower Churchill Hydroelectric Generation Project in Labrador. The response questioned the assumptions underlying the report's opaque use of the precautionary principle and sustainable development. It also critically examined the approach taken to account for greenhouse gas projections and the need for future hydroelectric capacity. Complicating factors in the EIS were the lack of adequate consultation measures with Aboriginal groups, as well as the lack of transparency in that key documents were unavailable to the public. Lastly, the response was critical of how cumulative effects were determined. Key questions to be answered in relation to these concerns were also included

A common-pool resource experiment in acequia communities

Farmers and rural advocates in New Mexico assert that traditional irrigators are better adapted to water scarcity and variability than other communities. Data to actually test this are often scarce, but such information could be useful for planning the state’s water future, especially as climate change predictions tend toward less reliable supplies. This paper reports results from a common pool resource (CPR) experiment that simulates irrigating behavior using two groups: rural irrigators and undergraduate students. Despite predictions to the opposite, there was no significant difference between mean withdrawals or predictions of other players’ behavior. On average, both groups withdrew above the social optimum but below the Nash equilibrium. This work appears to be the first example of a common pool resource experiment conducted with traditional New Mexican irrigators

A common-pool resource experiment in acequia communities

Farmers and rural advocates in New Mexico assert that traditional irrigators are better adapted to water scarcity and variability than other communities. Data to actually test this are often scarce, but such information could be useful for planning the state’s water future, especially as climate change predictions tend toward less reliable supplies. This paper reports results from a common pool resource (CPR) experiment that simulates irrigating behavior using two groups: rural irrigators and undergraduate students. Despite predictions to the opposite, there was no significant difference between mean withdrawals or predictions of other players’ behavior. On average, both groups withdrew above the social optimum but below the Nash equilibrium. This work appears to be the first example of a common pool resource experiment conducted with traditional New Mexican irrigators

A common-pool resource experiment in acequia communities

Farmers and rural advocates in New Mexico assert that traditional irrigators are better adapted to water scarcity and variability than other communities. Data to actually test this are often scarce, but such information could be useful for planning the state’s water future, especially as climate change predictions tend toward less reliable supplies. This paper reports results from a common pool resource (CPR) experiment that simulates irrigating behavior using two groups: rural irrigators and undergraduate students. Despite predictions to the opposite, there was no significant difference between mean withdrawals or predictions of other players’ behavior. On average, both groups withdrew above the social optimum but below the Nash equilibrium. This work appears to be the first example of a common pool resource experiment conducted with traditional New Mexican irrigators

Investigating intended evacuation from wildfires in the wildland-urban interface: Application of a bivariate probit model

With evidence of increasing wildfire risks in wildland-urban interface zones in the U.S. West and elsewhere, understanding intended evacuation behavior is a growing issue for community planners. This research investigates intended evacuation behavior due to wildfire risks, using mail survey data collected from over 1000 households in the East Mountain area outside Albuquerque, New Mexico (USA). Respondents were asked whether they would evacuate under both voluntary and mandatory evacuation orders. Bivariate probit probability models are used to jointly investigate the subjective belief structure of whether or not the respondent is concerned about wildfire risk, and the intended probability of evacuating as a function of risk perception, and a variety of socioeconomic and demographic variables (e.g. gender, political affiliation, length of residence, owning animals and amenity ratings).

"Agua para Galápagos": un programa de monitoreo de la calidad del agua en las islas Galápagos

The Galapagos Islands are distinguished by having limited sources of water; for this reason, the conservation and protection of fresh water is one of the most difficult challenges to face. The availability, quality and treatment of water on each island is different and is related to the demand of the population. In this article, we present the current water situation and the projects we develop related to water resources on three islands: Santa Cruz, San Cristóbal and Isabela. On Santa Cruz, in conjunction with the Galapagos National Park, a water quality baseline was generated using a nine-year data set collected by the Park. In addition, a study was carried out on the perception of the population on the quality of water, their satisfaction regarding the resource, and the local willingness to pay for improvements to the water service. On San Cristóbal, the long-term Monitoring Program on water quality is being developed, while on Isabela a pilot project for monitoring water quality was conducted. Finally, on the three islands, workshops were held with local people, representatives of public and private institutions, NGOs, and students where we identified and prioritized the communities’ concerns and uncertainties about the management of the water resources in the archipelago. The article presents a summary of the main results of the activities conducted, the status of water quality on the three islands, and opinions of the parties involved on the applicable improvements on the islands to obtain a quality resource. This community outreach program contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 3: Good Health and Well-being; 6: Clean Water and Sanitation; 13: Climate Action; and 14: Life Below Water. Finally, this program contributes in a tangible way to preserve and conserve the water resource in the archipelago.Las islas Galápagos se caracterizan por contar con fuentes limitadas de agua; por lo tanto, la conservación y protección del agua dulce es uno de los retos más difíciles de afrontar. La disponibilidad, calidad y tratamiento de aguas en cada isla es diferente, y está relacionada con la demanda de la población. En este artículo, presentamos la situación actual y los proyectos que desarrollamos relacionados con el recurso hídrico en tres islas: Santa Cruz, San Cristóbal e Isabela. En Santa Cruz, en conjunto con el Parque Nacional Galápagos (PNG), se generó una línea base de calidad del agua mediante un set de datos levantados durante nueve años por el PNG; además, se desarrolló un estudio sobre la percepción de la población sobre la calidad del agua, su satisfacción en cuanto al recurso y la disposición local a pagar por mejoras a este servicio. En San Cristóbal, se desarrolla el Programa de Monitoreo a largo plazo de calidad del agua; mientras que en Isabela se efectuó un proyecto piloto de monitoreo de la calidad del agua. Por último, en las tres islas se realizaron talleres de trabajo con gente local, representantes de instituciones públicas y privadas, ONG y estudiantes. Estos, además de dar a conocer los proyectos que se llevan a cabo en cada isla, permitieron identificar y priorizar las preocupaciones y dudas de cada comunidad acerca del manejo del agua y las estrategias mitigación al cambio climático. En este documento se presentan los resultados principales de cada actividad desarrollada, el estado de la calidad del agua en las tres islas y opiniones de las partes involucradas sobre las mejoras aplicables en las islas para obtener un recurso de calidad. Este proyecto de vinculación contribuye a los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible (ODS) de las Naciones Unidas 3: Salud y Bienestar; 6: Agua Limpia y Saneamiento; 13: Acción por el ClimaM y 14: Vida Submarina. Finalmente, este programa contribuye de manera tangible a preservar y conservar el recurso hídrico en el archipiélago

Defining Ecological Drought for the Twenty-First Century

THE RISING RISK OF DROUGHT. Droughts of the twenty-first century are characterized by hotter temperatures, longer duration, and greater spatial extent, and are increasingly exacerbated by human demands for water. This situation increases the vulnerability of ecosystems to drought, including a rise in drought-driven tree mortality globally (Allen et al. 2015) and anticipated ecosystem transformations from one state to another—for example, forest to a shrubland (Jiang et al. 2013). When a drought drives changes within ecosystems, there can be a ripple effect through human communities that depend on those ecosystems for critical goods and services (Millar and Stephenson 2015). For example, the “Millennium Drought” (2002–10) in Australia caused unanticipated losses to key services provided by hydrological ecosystems in the Murray–Darling basin—including air quality regulation, waste treatment, erosion prevention, and recreation. The costs of these losses exceeded AUD $800 million, as resources were spent to replace these services and adapt to new drought-impacted ecosystems (Banerjee et al. 2013). Despite the high costs to both nature and people, current drought research, management, and policy perspectives often fail to evaluate how drought affects ecosystems and the “natural capital” they provide to human communities. Integrating these human and natural dimensions of drought is an essential step toward addressing the rising risk of drought in the twenty-first century