The opportunity cost of water in the irrigation industry is a contentious issue at present because of the commitment made by the State and Commonwealth governments to get water out of the irrigation industry for environmental flows. The estimated value of the opportunity cost will affect...

Outdoor water restrictions are usually implemented as bans on a particular type of watering technology (sprinklers), which allow households to substitute for labour-intensive (hand-held) watering. This paper presents a household production model approach to analysing the impact of sprinkler...

The potential for improving irrigation scheduling decisions and adoption of more efficient irrigation systems is explored using a bioeconomic simulation model of lettuce production on the Gnangara Mound near Perth, Western Australia. Sandy soils with poor water and nutrient holding capacity are...

The nature of the seasonal water market is examined using a theoretical model and empirical evidence from the Victorian market. Drivers of the seasonal opportunity cost of water include the underlying nature of investment in the industry made in the context of risky entitlement yields; and the...

This article discusses the key practical issues associated with defining property rights to water use, in the context of broadening the scope of the market for transferable water entitlements. In particular, the third party impacts of water trade and the need for improved water trading rules are...

The opportunity cost of water in the irrigation industry is a contentious issue at present because of the commitment made by the State and Commonwealth governments to get water out of the irrigation industry for environmental flows. The estimated value of the opportunity cost will affect...

A great deal of attention has been given in recent years to the question of externalities associated with water entitlements and how third parties can be protected without restricting opportunities for water trade. Yet one market failure that has received no attention at all is the missing...

Inclining block tariffs, where the unit price is dependent on the volume consumed, are widely used in urban water pricing. These tariffs attempt to satisfy both efficiency and equity goals by providing pricing signals to influence consumption decisions at the margin, whilst making...