July 1985
Western Journal of Agricultural Economics
TABLE 4. Economic Feasibility of U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Salinity Control Units.
|
Unit |
Annual Cost Per |
Tons of Salt |
Annual Cost Per |
Benefit/ |
|
Paradox Valley |
$107,000- |
180,000 |
$10.80- |
2.4- |
|
$266,000 |
$26.90 |
0.9 | ||
|
Grand Valley—Stage One |
$642,000 |
24,000 |
$69.30 |
0.4 |
|
Overall |
$597,000 |
280,000 |
$60.30 |
0.4 |
|
Las Vegas Wash |
$102,000- |
71,000 |
$10.30- |
2.5- |
|
$114,000 |
$11.50 |
2.2 | ||
|
La Verkin Springs |
$1,578,000 |
103,000 |
$159.30 |
0.2 |
|
Lower Gunnison Basin |
$812,000 |
141,000 |
$82.00 |
0.3 |
|
Uinta Basin |
$960,000 |
24,000 |
$97.00 |
0.3 |
|
McEImo Creek Basin |
$820,000 |
24,000 |
$82.80 |
0.3 |
|
Glenwood-Dotsero Springs |
$908,000 |
314,000 |
$97.10 |
0.3 |
|
Big Sandy River |
$712,000 |
75,000 |
$71.90 |
0.4 |
|
Coal Slurry Pipeline |
$256,000- |
351 ,DOO- |
$25.90- |
1.0- |
|
$552,000 |
531,000 |
$56.00 |
0.5 |
a From USBR’s CRWQIP Status Report, 1983:18, updated to 1982 dollars by the GNP deflator.
b Assumed 9,900 tons of salt equals 1 mg∕liter at Imperial Dam.
c B/С ratios derived by dividing column 3 by estimated annual benefits (damages-avoided) per ton of salt re-
moved ($26 per ton). See text for explanation.
Iated work on other on-farm salinity con-
trol actitivies indicate the value of labor
saved can offset as much as one-fourth to
one-third of project costs (Gardner and
Young). However, reducing SCS costs by
labor savings of that magnitude would not
change the conclusions regarding the six
infeasible units in Table 3.
A second consideration is that SCS proj-
ect costs are made considerably more ex-
pensive because the choice of the im-
provements made in each area is a
technical and political one. Several alter-
natives were developed for each unit, and
the public was invited to help in choosing
one for implementation. In the case of the
Grand Valley, Lower Gunnison, and
McElmo Creek units, the preferred alter-
native was 35 to 70 percent higher in cost
than the least cost option. (See, for ex-
ample, U.S. Soil Conservation Service,
1981b:3). Farmers, of course, choose the
plan that benefits them most, but the cost
to the public of gaining farmer coopera-
tion is thereby increased. Some addition
to social cost may be necessary when
farmers are assumed to have no liability
for their salt discharges. Nevertheless, the
inclusion of less cost-effective activities—
such as some sprinkler and drip irrigation
systems, land leveling, and range im-
provements—tends to reduce the overall
economic feasibility of a project.
USBR Salinity Control Projects
Cost estimates for relevant Bureau of
Reclamation salinity control units either
under construction or investigation,
(USBR, 1983:18) were updated to 1982
dollars. These costs are compared in Table
4 with the authors’ benefit estimate, ad-
justed to reflect fifty-year USBR project
lives (versus twenty years for on-farm im-
provements).
Table 4 shows that benefits exceed cost
estimates for only two of eleven projects.
Only the Paradox Valley and Las Vegas
Wash units appear economically feasible
with all benefit estimates. The Paradox
Valley unit consists of pumping brine from
below the Dolores River and disposing of
it in deep wells. Municipal wastewater and
irrigation return flows would be collected
and bypassed around the salty Las Vegas
Wash.
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