By Daniel Crespo, Mehdi Nemati, Ariel Dinar, Zachary Frankel, and Nicholas Halberg, Giannini Foundation Of Agricultural Economics
The Colorado River Basin (CRB) supplies approximately one-third of the water used by Southern California’s cities and suburbs while also supporting the region’s large-scale agricultural operations, particularly in Imperial and Riverside counties. This article evaluates the economic value of water across urban and agricultural sectors using a hydro-economic model. The hydro-economic model highlights the potential impacts of water curtailment on various states and user groups and serves as a tool for evaluating various policy interventions to manage shortages.
