WRRCTR No.142 Water Transfer Strategy: Energy vs. Agricultural Use

Abstract

In some arid and semiarid regions where most water is appropriated for irrigation, water has been recognized as the most important limiting factor for energy development. Therefore, a water transfer from agricultural to energy use should be considered. In this study, water values for energy and food production are first analyzed. Next, problems associated with transferring water from agriculture to energy are discussed. Then, an agricultural energy-water transfer model and an agricultural crop-production model for compensating crop production losses due to water transfer are derived. Finally, to seek an optimum development scale, a trade-off methodology which could be implemented by high-level decision-makers is proposed to coordinate the profits from agricultural water transfer and their related environmental impact. An example of the agricultural energy-water transfer model and trade-off is shown and conclusions drawn.