Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T04:47:14.044Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Aggregate Analysis of Site-Specific Pollution Problems: The Case of Groundwater Contamination from Agriculture

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2017

James J. Opaluch  and
Kathleen Segerson
James J. Opaluch
Affiliation:
Department of Resource Economics, University of Rhode Island
Kathleen Segerson
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, University of Connecticut
Get access

Abstract

Control of nonpoint sources of pollution has traditionally been within the domain of local decision makers in recognition of the critical importance of site-specific issues. More recently attention has turned to the issue of what can and should be done at the regional or national level, while recognizing the importance of site-specific attributes. This paper describes and illustrates an approach for analysis of nonpoint pollution problems that focuses jointly at the aggregate and disaggregate levels of the problem. The approach is based on linking two tools of analysis, the microparameter distribution model and the Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Although there are significant challenges to be overcome in implementing such an approach, linkage of these two policy tools has considerable promise in dealing with site-specific issues within an aggregate framework. Furthermore, GIS is potentially an important source of data for economists to exploit, given the momentum of GIS systems throughout the nation and given the relatively disaggregate nature of the data.

Type
The Effects of Agricultural Production on Environmental Quality
Information
Northeastern Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , April 1991 , pp. 83 - 97
Copyright
Copyright © 1991 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

The research was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, Cooperative Agreement no. 58-3AEM-9-80068, and by the Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment Station (AES Contribution No. 2627). An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Resource Policy Consortium Workshop “Groundwater Modelling: Physical Science, Economics and Policy” held in Washington, DC, May 1990. We also gratefully acknowledge financial support of the Resource Policy Consortium.

References

Anderson, Glen D., Opaluch, James J., and Sullivan, Michael. “Nonpoint Agricultural Pollution: Pesticide Contamination of Groundwater Supplies.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 67 (1984):1238–44.Google Scholar
Antle, John M., and Just, Richard E. “Effects of Commodity Program Structure on Resource Use and the Environment.” In Commodity and Resource Policy in Agricultural Systems, edited by Bockstael, N. and Just, R. New York: Springer-Verlag, 1990.Google Scholar
Goss, D. W. “Soil and Pesticide Information for Implementing Water Quality.” National Soil Survey Center, SCS, Lincoln, NE, 1989.Google Scholar
Hochman, Eithan, and Zilberman, David. “Examination of Environmental Policies Using Production and Pollution Microparameter Distributions.” Econometrica 46 (1978):739–60.Google Scholar
Hochman, Eithan, and Zilberman, David. “Two-Goal Environmental Policies Using Production and Pollution Microparameter Distributions.” Journal of Environmental Economics and Management 6 (1979):152–74.Google Scholar
Johansen, Leif. Production Functions: An Integration of Micro and Macro, Short Run and Long Run Aspects. Amsterdam: North-Holland Publishing Co., 1972.Google Scholar
Just, Richard, and Antle, John M. “Interactions between Agricultural and Environmental Policies: A Conceptual Framework.” American Economic Review 80 (1990):197–202.Google Scholar
Lichtenberg, Erik. “Land Quality, Irrigation Development, and Cropping Patterns in the Northern High Plains.” American Journal of Agricultural Economics 71 (1989):187–94.Google Scholar
Nielson, Elizabeth, and Lee, Linda K. “The Magnitude and Costs of Groundwater Contamination from Agricultural Chemicals: A National Perspective.” Agricultural Economic Report no. 576. U.S. Dept, of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, 1987.Google Scholar
Wagenet, R. J., and Hutson, J. L. “LEACHM: A Process-Based Model of Water and Solute Movement, Transformations, Plant Uptake and Chemical Reactions in the Unsaturated Zones.” Center for Environmental Research, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 1989.Google Scholar
Zeitouni, Naomi, and Opaluch, James J. “Efficient Management of Groundwater Quality: An Evaluation of the Spatially Differentiated Policies.” Working paper, University of Rhode Island, 1991.Google Scholar