The economics of conjunctive use of ground and surface water

Abstract

THE ECONOMICS OF WATER RESOURCES WAS DISCUSSED WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON THE OPTIMAL MANAGEMENT OF WATER IN EXISTING STORAGE AND DISTRIBUTION FACILITIES. DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING WAS USED TO DETERMINE THE OPTIMAL CONJUNCTIVE USE OF SINGLE AND MULTIPLE STORAGE FACILITIES. AN ALTERNATIVE, REQUIRING ONLY A SMALL COMPUTER AND SIMPLE PROGRAM, BUT CONFIDENT PREDICTION OF STREAMFLOWS, WAS GIVEN. LINEAR PROGRAMMING WAS USED TO ESTIMATE THE NET SOCIAL BENEFITS AND THE NET OUTPUT FUNCTION. A DETAILED DESCRIPTION WAS GIVEN OF ACTIVITY DEMAND FUNCTIONS AND THE ENVIRONMENTAL CONSTRAINTS. SURFACE WATER POLICY AND THE PROBABILITY DISTRIBUTION AND TRANSITION PROBABILITIES FOR GROUND WATER STORAGE WERE DISCUSSED. NUMERICAL EXAMPLES WERE PRESENTED WITH DATA OBTAINED FROM A STUDY OF THE KINGS RIVER, PINE FLAT RESERVOIR, CALIFORNIA. THE EMPIRICAL RESULTS CONSIDERED PRESENT, MARGINAL, AND EXPECTED VALUES OF MANAGEMENT POLICIES AND THE MARKOVIAN PROPERTIES OF STOCHASTIC HYDROLOGY. (GYSI-CORNELL) Descriptors: *CONJUNCTIVE USE; *DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING; *LINEAR PROGRAMMING; *ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY; *WATER MANAGEMENT; AQUIFERS; MARKOV PROCESSES; DISTRIBUTION PATTERNS; DISCOUNT RATE; MARGINAL PRODUCTIVITY; WATER BALANCE; GROUNDWATER RECHARGE; HYDROLOGIC DATA; SURFACE-GROUNDWATER RELATIONSHIPS; KINGS RIVER(CALIF); PINE FLAT RESERVOIR(CALIF); PRESENT VALUE