Sustainability of the Use of Natural Capital in Human-dominated Region: Measuring Irrigation Policy through the Size and Depth of Irrigation’s Ecological and Water Footprint

Abstract:

Irrigation, drainage, and conservation assets, as forms of natural resources, serving U.S. agriculture amounted to billions. Natural resource capital could be depreciable and not considered as one of the active aspects of policymaking. However, the approach to compiling water into traditional forms of capital is elusive. To agriculture in the arid or semi-arid area, the value of water determines the future sustainability of agriculture. Based on summarizing the quantitative framework, a model was built on the system dynamics platform and integrated with dynamics of economic development, population growth, land uses, and climate change.

The use of water and land as critical natural capital in Lower Rio Grande (LRG), a southwest region in the U.S., was investigated by bringing together the ecological footprint (EF), water footprint (WF) and corresponding capacity indicators into an improved three-dimensional model. Results showed that LRG has long been operating in a state of overshoot due to a shortage of annual natural capital flows and accumulated depletion of stocks. From 2010 to 2015, and EF depth of 5.9 was accumulated. Concerning water use, LRG is a debtor. Overall, LRG's economic growth did not show signs of decoupling from the EF and WF. These findings highlight the employment of valuing natural capital in the form of water reveals that the integration of natural capital value links into a socio-hydrology system may change the implications of agriculture policy analysis. This integrated model provided an deep sight of the structural and characteristic dynamics of both flows and stocks while avoiding unexpecting consequences of policies across various components within single forms of natural capital from a strong sustainability perspective. Our study enhances understanding of the critical role of natural capital in ensuring regional sustainability and improving human welfare.