Impact of nitrate fertilizer restrictions on Salt River Project and Roosevelt Water Conservation District growers.

Abstract

Environmental pollution has become one of the most important of society's problems and the extent of this problem continues to grow every day. Society, through an extreme concern for pollution, is beginning to construct policies, laws, and institutions to deal with this problem. Unfortunately, in many cases, laws are being enacted, policies developed, and institutions built or modified to combat pollution without full knowledge of the parameters of the system upon which they must operate. Several types of regulatory programs may be imposed by government to control farm pollution. For example, regulations may take the form of restrictions upon inputs used in production, land use, and waste disposal practices. All of these controls have potentially significant effects upon farm operation and costs of production. An important aspect of this problem is the probable economic impact of such restrictions upon the agricultural industry and upon individual producers. This study investigates the economic impact of nitrate fertilizer restrictions on Arizona's Salt River Project and Roosevelt Water Conservation District growers. A procedure to identify this impact, incorporating production functions and a linear programming formulation was utilized. The integrated model is described, the results for the irrigation districts are presented, and tentative implications drawn. Limitations of the study and additional research possibilities are also outlined.