An Analysis of the Feasibility of Carbon Management Policies as a Mechanism to Influence Water Conservation Using Optimization Methods Authors

Studies that focus on the effect that carbon reducing policies would have on agriculture have revealed a strong connection between carbon emissions and irrigation. In light of the recent debate about how to regulate the use of the Ogallala Aquifer by landowners on the Texas High Plains, this connection poses an interesting question. Could water conservation be realized through carbon policy? This study seeks to answer this question by using optimization methods to examine the effect of both a tax on carbon emissions and a subsidy for emissions reduction on the Texas High Plains. The results show that a tax or subsidy that reduces carbon emissions to 15% of a baseline estimate also reduces the amount of water used for irrigation by about 20%; however, the amount that must be paid in either taxes or subsidies may be too high for such policies to be feasible.