Irrigation water resource in a rice-growing area: economic evaluation under different pricing conditions

Water Framework Directive (60/20000/EC), in order to assign an appropriate cost to irrigation water resource, urges member states to introduce the concept of full cost and to adopt economic instruments to improve the efficiency of its allocation. The option to apply a volumetric supply fee promoting the rationalization of the resource, could thus play a role in addressing emerging and future problems of water scarcity. The study aims to evaluate economic performances of farms and estimate water irrigation costs in a typical Lombard rice-cultivated area through a simple non-linear programming model. It returns the current structural features of farms, their productive inputs and performances. Secondly, different scenarios are considered, related both to a different water government, in terms of price, quantity and distribution method, and crop water requirements; in this way it is possible to analyze the observable consequences on supply and compare the output data of different scenarios. Obtained results allow to identify critical points in water management and incentivize interventions for a better resource allocation, and their evaluation represents a useful instrument for supporting future policies on water resource.