The 1997 Irrigation Suspension Program for the Edwards Aquifer: Evaluation and Alternatives

Rothe for help with the study and to Wayne Jordan for comments. Mention of a trademark or a proprietary product does not constitute a guarantee or a warranty of the product by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and does not imply its approval to the exclusion of other possible products that also may be suitable. All programs and information of the Texas Water Resources Institute and the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station are available to everyone regardless of socioeconomic level Early in 1997, the Edwards Aquifer Authority (EAA) implemented a pilot Irrigation Suspension Program (ISP) for the Edwards Aquifer (Aquifer) region in Texas that paid a group of farmers not to irrigate for the 1997 cropping season. The program was designed to raise aquifer levels, increase springflow, and provide municipalities with relief in critical drought periods. This report describes that program and analyzes its potential impacts: 1) providing background leading up to the decision to implement an ISP, 2) documents details of the pilot ISP, 3) estimates the effects of the program in terms of decreased pumping by irrigators; changes in crop mix, aquifer elevation, springflow and return flow; and impacts on the local economy, under prevailing and potential weather conditions, 4) presents results from a survey of ISP irrigators, and 5) briefly evaluates some alternative approaches.