The Historically Evolving Impact of the Ogallala Aquifer: Agricultural Adaptation to Groundwater and Drought

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Hornbeck, Richard; Keskin, Pinar
• 署名单位: Harvard University; Wellesley College
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-APPLIED ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7782
• DOI: 10.1257/app.6.1.190
• 发表日期: 2014
• 页码: 190-219
• 关键词: unsettled problems; water; irrigation; adjustments; yields

摘要

Agriculture on the American Plains has been constrained historically by water scarcity. Post-WWII technologies enabled farmers over the Ogallala aquifer to extract groundwater for large-scale irrigation. Comparing counties over the Ogallala with nearby similar counties, groundwater access increased agricultural land values and initially reduced the impact of droughts. Over time, land use adjusted toward water intensive crops and drought sensitivity increased. Viewed differently, farmers in nearby water-scarce areas maintained lower-value drought-resistant practices that fully mitigate naturally higher drought sensitivity. The evolving impact of the Ogallala illustrates the importance of water for agricultural production, but also the large scope for agricultural adaptation to groundwater and drought.