Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Use of Economic Instruments to Encourage Irrigation Water Use Efficiency

 

 

The Challenge:
Increase understanding of water use in the Canadian agricultural sector and the economic tools available to improve efficiency.

 

The Project:

Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada (AAFC) needed an experienced team to help them understand how economic instruments can influence farmers’ irrigation practices. We worked with partners Dr. David Brooks and Oliver Brandes from the POLIS Water Sustainability Project , drawing together a group of the foremost experts in water efficiency and sustainability in Canada.

To complete the project, we conducted interviews with informed staff in all ten provinces and analyzed information from Statistics Canada’s Census of Agriculture. We focused analysis on volume-based pricing, water markets, and subsidies as well as the closely related issue of agricultural water metering, but we also looked at other types of instruments including tax incentives, low interest loans, performance bonds and conservation investments.

Our report assessed the state of implementation of each of these tools from both theoretical and practical standpoints. It also provided a province-by-province assessment of irrigation trends in Canada.

 

The Result:
We successfully delivered the report, receiving thoroughly positive feedback from our client. The series of recommended policy principles we provided are helping AAFC understand how these tools are currently being applied across the country, what the future holds, and what positions it should adopt in the future.