The impacts of nonlinearities and shifts in ecosystems in optimal groundwater pumping patterns
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Date
2018
Authors
Esteban Gracia, EncarnaCalvo Calzada, Elena
Albiac Murillo, José
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Abstract
Groundwater management is currently one of the main issues in environmental
regulation worldwide. The large depletion and contamination of these resources
during recent decades, calls for the implementation of control measures capable of
reduce or dampen down the escalating global depletion, which is above 150 Mm3
per year. While several efforts have been done analyzing suitable regulations and
measures to control extractions and protect these resources, the impacts of
groundwater resources over their dependent aquatic ecosystems is still a pending
issue. The large degradation of ecosystems, especially fresh water biota and
habitats, requires the protection of specific ecosystems and their habitats. During
recent decades, the interest on studying ecosystems has increased exponentially,
with much more accurate analysis of the behavioral response of ecosystems to
changes in their habitat. A broad literature suggests that the existence of
nonlinearities in ecosystem behavior seems to be most precise representation of
ecosystem status. Additionally, the existence of shifts in ecosystem’s behavior due
to large deterioration of their external conditions appears to be a quite frequent
feature. This paper purpose is to include ecosystems as very important elements to
be considered in groundwater management. The contribution of this paper is the
inclusion of nonlinearities and switches in the ecosystem’ status due to habitat
deterioration (groundwater depletion). Using a two-stage optimal control method,
we obtain the optimal patterns of irrigation water extractions and water table levels.
The results highlight how both the economic value and the ecosystem’ status
functions have important impacts on water extractions and groundwater levels.
Additionally, the existence of shifts in ecosystem’s behavior affects critically the
characterization of the optimal groundwater strategy.
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VIII Conference Spanish-Portuguese Association of Natural and Environmental Resource Economics (AERNA). Madrid, 3 – 5 de septiembre de 2018
AGROVOC subjects
EcosistemaAgua dulce
Aguas subterráneas
Gestión
Métodos de control