Kristin Rowles - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Kristin Rowles
Research Square (Research Square), Apr 12, 2023
Environmental Science & Technology
Freshwater salinity is rising across many regions of the United States as well as globally, a phe... more Freshwater salinity is rising across many regions of the United States as well as globally, a phenomenon called the freshwater salinization syndrome (FSS). The FSS mobilizes organic carbon, nutrients, heavy metals, and other contaminants sequestered in soils and freshwater sediments, alters the structures and functions of soils, streams, and riparian ecosystems, threatens drinking water supplies, and undermines progress toward many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. There is an urgent need to leverage the current understanding of salinization's causes and consequences�in partnership with engineers, social scientists, policymakers, and other stakeholders�into locally tailored approaches for balancing our nation's salt budget. In this feature, we propose that the FSS can be understood as a common pool resource problem and explore Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom's social-ecological systems framework as an approach for identifying the conditions under which local actors may work collectively to manage the FSS in the absence of top-down regulatory controls. We adopt as a case study rising sodium concentrations in the Occoquan Reservoir, a critical water supply for up to one million residents in Northern Virginia (USA), to illustrate emerging impacts, underlying causes, possible solutions, and critical research needs.
Current interest in developing schemes of pollutant trading as a market-based approach to achievi... more Current interest in developing schemes of pollutant trading as a market-based approach to achieving the goals of the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) approach to watershed management is considerable. In this paper, our specific concern is the prospect of lowering nutrient levels in rivers and lakes using an offset banking scheme for pollutant trading between point and nonpoint sources of pollution. A basic pre-requisite for any such scheme is a good understanding of the costs of constructing entirely new (point-source) wastewater treatment facilities, or upgrading existing facilities, in particular in Georgia, in order to reduce the discharge of phosphorus to streams and rivers. In most situations, we need to adapt the already existing facilities — operating at a level of x % removal of P, say — to a higher level of y % removal. An approach based on extensive simulation studies is reported in the paper. Simulation has an important advantage over pilot-scale experiments, since the inf...
As part of a wider enquiry into the feasibility of offset banking schemes as a means to implement... more As part of a wider enquiry into the feasibility of offset banking schemes as a means to implement pollutant trading within Georgia watersheds, this is the second of two reports addressing the issue of estimating costs for upgrades in the performance of phosphorus removal in point-source wastewater treatment facilities. Earlier, preliminary results are presented in Jiang et al (2004) (Working Paper # 2004-010 of the Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center). The present study is much more detailed and employs an advanced software package (WEST ® , Hemmis nv, Kortrijk, Belgium) for simulating a variety of treatment plant designs operating under typical Georgia conditions. Specifically, upgrades in performance, in a single step, from a plant working at an effluent limit of less than 2.0 mg/l phosphorus to one working with limits variously ranging between less than 1.0 mg/l to less than 0.05 mg/l phosphorus are simulated and the resulting costs of the upgrade estimated. Five capacities of plant are considered, from 1 MGD to 100 MGD. Three strategic, alternative designs for the facility are considered: the basic activated sludge (AS) process with chemical addition, the Anoxic/Oxic (A/O) arrangement of the AS process, and the Anaerobic/Aerobic/Oxic (A/A/O) arrangement of the AS process. Upgrades in performance are consistent with the logical alternatives for adapting these options. Cost comparisons are made primarily on the basis of the incremental cost of the upgrade, i.e., from the base-case, reference plant to that performing at the higher level, as expressed through the incremental Total Annual Economic Cost
As part of a wider enquiry into the feasibility of offset banking schemes as a means to implement... more As part of a wider enquiry into the feasibility of offset banking schemes as a means to implement pollutant trading within Georgia watersheds, this is the second of two reports addressing the issue of estimating costs for upgrades in the performance of phosphorus removal in point-source wastewater treatment facilities. Earlier, preliminary results are presented in Jiang et al (2004) (Working Paper # 2004-010 of the Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center). The present study is much more detailed and employs an advanced software package (WEST ® , Hemmis nv, Kortrijk, Belgium) for simulating a variety of treatment plant designs operating under typical Georgia conditions. Specifically, upgrades in performance, in a single step, from a plant working at an effluent limit of less than 2.0 mg/l phosphorus to one working with limits variously ranging between less than 1.0 mg/l to less than 0.05 mg/l phosphorus are simulated and the resulting costs of the upgrade estimated. Five capacities of plant are considered, from 1 MGD to 100 MGD. Three strategic, alternative designs for the facility are considered: the basic activated sludge (AS) process with chemical addition, the Anoxic/Oxic (A/O) arrangement of the AS process, and the Anaerobic/Aerobic/Oxic (A/A/O) arrangement of the AS process. Upgrades in performance are consistent with the logical alternatives for adapting these options. Cost comparisons are made primarily on the basis of the incremental cost of the upgrade, i.e., from the base-case, reference plant to that performing at the higher level, as expressed through the incremental Total Annual Economic Cost
Apple processors are an important link in the marketing chain from apple growers to consumers, an... more Apple processors are an important link in the marketing chain from apple growers to consumers, and their perspective is critical in understanding the industry's situation and projecting the industry's future. This paper reports the results of a survey of Northeastern U.S. apple processors. The survey was conducted to provide a snapshot of current strategic issues in the industry, to assess the industry's strengths and weaknesses, to identify opportunities and threats, to forecast future trends, and to provide background data for additional research in this industry. The survey results provide an overview of trends, issues, and processor perspectives in the Northeastern apple processing industry. The outlook of many processors for future of the industry is negative or uncertain. Processors' concerns reflect many of those held by the industry's apple growers. The processing sector faces a number of challenges in a rapidly changing and globalizing market. Looking fo...
Apple juice and cider experienced rapid market growth in the U.S. during the past few decades, bu... more Apple juice and cider experienced rapid market growth in the U.S. during the past few decades, but now a mature market is established. The industry faces economic pressures created by the globalization of the market, and growers and processors across the industry are trying to adapt to new market conditions. The development of effective competitive strategies for this industry requires an understanding of industry trends, market conditions, consumer preferences, and the forces driving competition in the industry. The purpose of this paper is to provide apple growers and processors with information on the markets for apple juice and cider to support the analysis of marketing opportunities and the development of effective competitive strategies. This paper is issued as a part of a larger project focused on the processing apple industry. This paper will be supplemented with additional consumer marketing research findings in the final report for this project.
Plan was made possible through the hard work and diligence of a great number of people, and for t... more Plan was made possible through the hard work and diligence of a great number of people, and for this the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine Study extends its heartfelt gratitude. The Study was conducted under financial support and technical guidance of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through an agreement with the NC Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources (DEHNR). Our special appreciation goes to the various divisions within the Department for their expertise and generous sharing of information in the preparation of this Plan. Substantial contribution of time, energy and input also were made by various institutions and consulting firms including East Carolina University,
Kristin RowlesIt is the Policy of Cornell University actively to support equality of educational ... more Kristin RowlesIt is the Policy of Cornell University actively to support equality of educational and employment opportunity. No person shall be denied admission to any educational program or activity or be denied employment on the basis of any legally prohibited discrimination involving, but not limited to, such factors as race, color, creed, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, age or handicap. The University is committed to the maintenance of affirmative action programs which will assure the continuation of such equality of opportunity. Industry Analysis:
Water quality trading is a policy tool that can improve the cost-effectiveness of achieving envir... more Water quality trading is a policy tool that can improve the cost-effectiveness of achieving environmental goals and provide options for environmental compliance. It is not currently used in the state of Georgia, but it has been established in other watersheds in the U.S., and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is actively promoting its implementation. In trading programs elsewhere, the primary barrier to trading activity is a lack of adequate financial incentives, which are closely tied to the level of environmental regulation. If the state of Georgia implements nutrient standards in response to EPA guidelines, interest in water quality trading in Georgia is likely to increase. This research seeks to evaluate the applicability of water quality trading in Georgia watersheds.
Hard cider and apple wine offer new value-added marketing opportunities to the apple industry. Bo... more Hard cider and apple wine offer new value-added marketing opportunities to the apple industry. Both products are situated in rapidly growing categories of the beverage industry. The development of effective marketing strategies for these products requires an understanding of the forces driving competition in these markets. This paper provides background information to support competitive analysis and strategy development. Development of these markets will be positive for the apple industry, but the effect is likely to be limited in volume. This paper is issued as a part of a larger project focused on the processing apple industry. The purpose of the paper is to provide apple growers and processors with preliminary information on the markets for hard cider and apple wine to support the analysis of marketing opportunities and the development of effective competitive strategies. This paper will be updated with additional consumer marketing research findings that will be included in the...
Current interest in developing schemes of pollutant trading as a market-based approach to achievi... more Current interest in developing schemes of pollutant trading as a market-based approach to achieving the goals of the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) approach to watershed management is considerable. In this paper, our specific concern is the prospect of lowering nutrient levels in rivers and lakes using an offset banking scheme for pollutant trading between point and nonpoint sources of pollution. A basic pre-requisite for any such scheme is a good understanding of the costs of constructing entirely new (point-source) wastewater treatment facilities, or upgrading existing facilities, in particular in Georgia, in order to reduce the discharge of phosphorus to streams and rivers. In most situations, we need to adapt the already existing facilities — operating at a level of x % removal of P, say — to a higher level of y % removal. An approach based on extensive simulation studies is reported in the paper. Simulation has an important advantage over pilot-scale experiments, since the inf...
International Perspectives on Sustainable Planning and River Basin Management by Jim Hawkins, Rob... more International Perspectives on Sustainable Planning and River Basin Management by Jim Hawkins, Robert Osborne Black & Veatch, Atlanta, GA Mike Caston SJWD Water District, Lyman, SC Kristin Rowles – Georgia Policy & Planning Institute, Albany GA This paper summarizes a case study of selected river basin management organisations and practices, a case study1 involving an Australian water utility (Water Corporation of Western Australia) and commentary by a US water utility (SJWD Water District). The paper will provide a brief overview of planning and management practises in the Southeast (Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama and Florida,) and how these compare to state-wide water planning and management practises in South Carolina. The demands on our river basins are increasing in the Southeastern United States. Demands have escalated in the past 10 years and created regional issues such as the Federal court ruling on stated purposes for Lake Lanier (Atlanta), Chattahoochee River water alloc...
A casual reading of Georgia law seems to harmonize with the agricultural water users' lay underst... more A casual reading of Georgia law seems to harmonize with the agricultural water users' lay understanding. Legislation enacted by the Georgia General Assembly in 1988, 2003, and 2006, in essence, creates different "classes" of agricultural water use permits. In 1988, the General Assembly placed farmers who had acquired their water use permits based on use prior to July 1, 1988 and submitted applications to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) prior to July 1, 1991 into a distinct tenure from subsequent permittees. 3 These permits are commonly known as "grandfathered" permits, but we refer to them as "Tenure 1" permits. There are some major distinctions between Tenure 1 and subsequent permits. First, Tenure 1 permits were granted by EPD on the basis of a user's equipment capacity, as opposed to the reasonable use criteria applied to subsequent tenures of permits. 4 However, as discussed below, the meaningfulness of this distinction is unclear and even problematic. Second, in the Flint River Basin, all Tenure 1 permit holders qualify to participate in the drought abatement program created by the Flint River Drought Protection Act. 5 A second class of permits, which we refer to as "Tenure 2," are permits based on use initiated after July 1, 1988 and on applications submitted to the EPD prior to December 1, 1999. The only difference between Tenure 2 and Tenure 1 permits is that limits to water use under a Tenure 2 permit are based on a "reasonableness" criterion, a multifactor weighing test left largely to the EPD's discretion. 6 In the Flint River Basin, Tenure 2 permit holders, like Tenure 1 permit holders, are eligible to participate in the drought abatement program created by the Flint River Drought Protection Act. 7 A moratorium on the issuance of new agricultural water use permits between December 1, 1999 and March 20, 2006 created a third class of permits. During the moratorium period, the EPD received 1,134 permit applications for water use involving the irrigation of approximately 96,219 acres. 8 The EPD has been reviewing and processing the backlog applications since the moratorium was lifted. Legislative amendments to Georgia's water 3 It is important to note that, particularly for Georgia's groundwater users, it is not entirely clear what the actual limits of their rights were prior to 1988. In some instances, it appears that Georgia groundwater users had absolute dominion over their groundwater resources, limited only by their ability to get it out of the ground. In other instances, particularly in the case of a strong hydrological connection between groundwater and surface water, it appears that groundwater users were limited by a reasonableness standard. This issue is discussed in further detail in the
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, 2011
Concerns about nutrient loads into our waters have focused attention on poultry litter applicatio... more Concerns about nutrient loads into our waters have focused attention on poultry litter applications. Like many states with a large poultry industry, Georgia recently designed a subsidy program to facilitate the transportation of poultry litter out of vulnerable watersheds. This paper uses a transportation model to examine the necessity of a poultry litter subsidy to achieve water protection goals in Georgia. We also demonstrate the relationship between diesel and synthetic fertilizer prices and the value of poultry litter. Results suggest that a well-functioning market would be able to remove excess litter from vulnerable watersheds in the absence of a subsidy.
Water quality trading is a market-based policy tool that is intended to bring increased flexibili... more Water quality trading is a market-based policy tool that is intended to bring increased flexibility and cost savings to wastewater management. It is being actively promoted by federal agencies including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and it is currently included in the draft statewide water management plan for Georgia. Water quality trading is a complex policy tool that raises questions that are both technical and policy oriented. This session will provide an overview of current research on water quality trading in Georgia. This type of research is important because it helps to answer the questions that the potential application of water quality trading in Georgia might raise. Another session in the water policy track at this conference considers the policy issues that water quality trading might raise in Georgia. The panelists include four researchers involved in project examining various aspects of water quality trading:
Research Square (Research Square), Apr 12, 2023
Environmental Science & Technology
Freshwater salinity is rising across many regions of the United States as well as globally, a phe... more Freshwater salinity is rising across many regions of the United States as well as globally, a phenomenon called the freshwater salinization syndrome (FSS). The FSS mobilizes organic carbon, nutrients, heavy metals, and other contaminants sequestered in soils and freshwater sediments, alters the structures and functions of soils, streams, and riparian ecosystems, threatens drinking water supplies, and undermines progress toward many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. There is an urgent need to leverage the current understanding of salinization's causes and consequences�in partnership with engineers, social scientists, policymakers, and other stakeholders�into locally tailored approaches for balancing our nation's salt budget. In this feature, we propose that the FSS can be understood as a common pool resource problem and explore Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom's social-ecological systems framework as an approach for identifying the conditions under which local actors may work collectively to manage the FSS in the absence of top-down regulatory controls. We adopt as a case study rising sodium concentrations in the Occoquan Reservoir, a critical water supply for up to one million residents in Northern Virginia (USA), to illustrate emerging impacts, underlying causes, possible solutions, and critical research needs.
Current interest in developing schemes of pollutant trading as a market-based approach to achievi... more Current interest in developing schemes of pollutant trading as a market-based approach to achieving the goals of the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) approach to watershed management is considerable. In this paper, our specific concern is the prospect of lowering nutrient levels in rivers and lakes using an offset banking scheme for pollutant trading between point and nonpoint sources of pollution. A basic pre-requisite for any such scheme is a good understanding of the costs of constructing entirely new (point-source) wastewater treatment facilities, or upgrading existing facilities, in particular in Georgia, in order to reduce the discharge of phosphorus to streams and rivers. In most situations, we need to adapt the already existing facilities — operating at a level of x % removal of P, say — to a higher level of y % removal. An approach based on extensive simulation studies is reported in the paper. Simulation has an important advantage over pilot-scale experiments, since the inf...
As part of a wider enquiry into the feasibility of offset banking schemes as a means to implement... more As part of a wider enquiry into the feasibility of offset banking schemes as a means to implement pollutant trading within Georgia watersheds, this is the second of two reports addressing the issue of estimating costs for upgrades in the performance of phosphorus removal in point-source wastewater treatment facilities. Earlier, preliminary results are presented in Jiang et al (2004) (Working Paper # 2004-010 of the Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center). The present study is much more detailed and employs an advanced software package (WEST ® , Hemmis nv, Kortrijk, Belgium) for simulating a variety of treatment plant designs operating under typical Georgia conditions. Specifically, upgrades in performance, in a single step, from a plant working at an effluent limit of less than 2.0 mg/l phosphorus to one working with limits variously ranging between less than 1.0 mg/l to less than 0.05 mg/l phosphorus are simulated and the resulting costs of the upgrade estimated. Five capacities of plant are considered, from 1 MGD to 100 MGD. Three strategic, alternative designs for the facility are considered: the basic activated sludge (AS) process with chemical addition, the Anoxic/Oxic (A/O) arrangement of the AS process, and the Anaerobic/Aerobic/Oxic (A/A/O) arrangement of the AS process. Upgrades in performance are consistent with the logical alternatives for adapting these options. Cost comparisons are made primarily on the basis of the incremental cost of the upgrade, i.e., from the base-case, reference plant to that performing at the higher level, as expressed through the incremental Total Annual Economic Cost
As part of a wider enquiry into the feasibility of offset banking schemes as a means to implement... more As part of a wider enquiry into the feasibility of offset banking schemes as a means to implement pollutant trading within Georgia watersheds, this is the second of two reports addressing the issue of estimating costs for upgrades in the performance of phosphorus removal in point-source wastewater treatment facilities. Earlier, preliminary results are presented in Jiang et al (2004) (Working Paper # 2004-010 of the Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center). The present study is much more detailed and employs an advanced software package (WEST ® , Hemmis nv, Kortrijk, Belgium) for simulating a variety of treatment plant designs operating under typical Georgia conditions. Specifically, upgrades in performance, in a single step, from a plant working at an effluent limit of less than 2.0 mg/l phosphorus to one working with limits variously ranging between less than 1.0 mg/l to less than 0.05 mg/l phosphorus are simulated and the resulting costs of the upgrade estimated. Five capacities of plant are considered, from 1 MGD to 100 MGD. Three strategic, alternative designs for the facility are considered: the basic activated sludge (AS) process with chemical addition, the Anoxic/Oxic (A/O) arrangement of the AS process, and the Anaerobic/Aerobic/Oxic (A/A/O) arrangement of the AS process. Upgrades in performance are consistent with the logical alternatives for adapting these options. Cost comparisons are made primarily on the basis of the incremental cost of the upgrade, i.e., from the base-case, reference plant to that performing at the higher level, as expressed through the incremental Total Annual Economic Cost
Apple processors are an important link in the marketing chain from apple growers to consumers, an... more Apple processors are an important link in the marketing chain from apple growers to consumers, and their perspective is critical in understanding the industry's situation and projecting the industry's future. This paper reports the results of a survey of Northeastern U.S. apple processors. The survey was conducted to provide a snapshot of current strategic issues in the industry, to assess the industry's strengths and weaknesses, to identify opportunities and threats, to forecast future trends, and to provide background data for additional research in this industry. The survey results provide an overview of trends, issues, and processor perspectives in the Northeastern apple processing industry. The outlook of many processors for future of the industry is negative or uncertain. Processors' concerns reflect many of those held by the industry's apple growers. The processing sector faces a number of challenges in a rapidly changing and globalizing market. Looking fo...
Apple juice and cider experienced rapid market growth in the U.S. during the past few decades, bu... more Apple juice and cider experienced rapid market growth in the U.S. during the past few decades, but now a mature market is established. The industry faces economic pressures created by the globalization of the market, and growers and processors across the industry are trying to adapt to new market conditions. The development of effective competitive strategies for this industry requires an understanding of industry trends, market conditions, consumer preferences, and the forces driving competition in the industry. The purpose of this paper is to provide apple growers and processors with information on the markets for apple juice and cider to support the analysis of marketing opportunities and the development of effective competitive strategies. This paper is issued as a part of a larger project focused on the processing apple industry. This paper will be supplemented with additional consumer marketing research findings in the final report for this project.
Plan was made possible through the hard work and diligence of a great number of people, and for t... more Plan was made possible through the hard work and diligence of a great number of people, and for this the Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine Study extends its heartfelt gratitude. The Study was conducted under financial support and technical guidance of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through an agreement with the NC Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources (DEHNR). Our special appreciation goes to the various divisions within the Department for their expertise and generous sharing of information in the preparation of this Plan. Substantial contribution of time, energy and input also were made by various institutions and consulting firms including East Carolina University,
Kristin RowlesIt is the Policy of Cornell University actively to support equality of educational ... more Kristin RowlesIt is the Policy of Cornell University actively to support equality of educational and employment opportunity. No person shall be denied admission to any educational program or activity or be denied employment on the basis of any legally prohibited discrimination involving, but not limited to, such factors as race, color, creed, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, age or handicap. The University is committed to the maintenance of affirmative action programs which will assure the continuation of such equality of opportunity. Industry Analysis:
Water quality trading is a policy tool that can improve the cost-effectiveness of achieving envir... more Water quality trading is a policy tool that can improve the cost-effectiveness of achieving environmental goals and provide options for environmental compliance. It is not currently used in the state of Georgia, but it has been established in other watersheds in the U.S., and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is actively promoting its implementation. In trading programs elsewhere, the primary barrier to trading activity is a lack of adequate financial incentives, which are closely tied to the level of environmental regulation. If the state of Georgia implements nutrient standards in response to EPA guidelines, interest in water quality trading in Georgia is likely to increase. This research seeks to evaluate the applicability of water quality trading in Georgia watersheds.
Hard cider and apple wine offer new value-added marketing opportunities to the apple industry. Bo... more Hard cider and apple wine offer new value-added marketing opportunities to the apple industry. Both products are situated in rapidly growing categories of the beverage industry. The development of effective marketing strategies for these products requires an understanding of the forces driving competition in these markets. This paper provides background information to support competitive analysis and strategy development. Development of these markets will be positive for the apple industry, but the effect is likely to be limited in volume. This paper is issued as a part of a larger project focused on the processing apple industry. The purpose of the paper is to provide apple growers and processors with preliminary information on the markets for hard cider and apple wine to support the analysis of marketing opportunities and the development of effective competitive strategies. This paper will be updated with additional consumer marketing research findings that will be included in the...
Current interest in developing schemes of pollutant trading as a market-based approach to achievi... more Current interest in developing schemes of pollutant trading as a market-based approach to achieving the goals of the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) approach to watershed management is considerable. In this paper, our specific concern is the prospect of lowering nutrient levels in rivers and lakes using an offset banking scheme for pollutant trading between point and nonpoint sources of pollution. A basic pre-requisite for any such scheme is a good understanding of the costs of constructing entirely new (point-source) wastewater treatment facilities, or upgrading existing facilities, in particular in Georgia, in order to reduce the discharge of phosphorus to streams and rivers. In most situations, we need to adapt the already existing facilities — operating at a level of x % removal of P, say — to a higher level of y % removal. An approach based on extensive simulation studies is reported in the paper. Simulation has an important advantage over pilot-scale experiments, since the inf...
International Perspectives on Sustainable Planning and River Basin Management by Jim Hawkins, Rob... more International Perspectives on Sustainable Planning and River Basin Management by Jim Hawkins, Robert Osborne Black & Veatch, Atlanta, GA Mike Caston SJWD Water District, Lyman, SC Kristin Rowles – Georgia Policy & Planning Institute, Albany GA This paper summarizes a case study of selected river basin management organisations and practices, a case study1 involving an Australian water utility (Water Corporation of Western Australia) and commentary by a US water utility (SJWD Water District). The paper will provide a brief overview of planning and management practises in the Southeast (Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama and Florida,) and how these compare to state-wide water planning and management practises in South Carolina. The demands on our river basins are increasing in the Southeastern United States. Demands have escalated in the past 10 years and created regional issues such as the Federal court ruling on stated purposes for Lake Lanier (Atlanta), Chattahoochee River water alloc...
A casual reading of Georgia law seems to harmonize with the agricultural water users' lay underst... more A casual reading of Georgia law seems to harmonize with the agricultural water users' lay understanding. Legislation enacted by the Georgia General Assembly in 1988, 2003, and 2006, in essence, creates different "classes" of agricultural water use permits. In 1988, the General Assembly placed farmers who had acquired their water use permits based on use prior to July 1, 1988 and submitted applications to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) prior to July 1, 1991 into a distinct tenure from subsequent permittees. 3 These permits are commonly known as "grandfathered" permits, but we refer to them as "Tenure 1" permits. There are some major distinctions between Tenure 1 and subsequent permits. First, Tenure 1 permits were granted by EPD on the basis of a user's equipment capacity, as opposed to the reasonable use criteria applied to subsequent tenures of permits. 4 However, as discussed below, the meaningfulness of this distinction is unclear and even problematic. Second, in the Flint River Basin, all Tenure 1 permit holders qualify to participate in the drought abatement program created by the Flint River Drought Protection Act. 5 A second class of permits, which we refer to as "Tenure 2," are permits based on use initiated after July 1, 1988 and on applications submitted to the EPD prior to December 1, 1999. The only difference between Tenure 2 and Tenure 1 permits is that limits to water use under a Tenure 2 permit are based on a "reasonableness" criterion, a multifactor weighing test left largely to the EPD's discretion. 6 In the Flint River Basin, Tenure 2 permit holders, like Tenure 1 permit holders, are eligible to participate in the drought abatement program created by the Flint River Drought Protection Act. 7 A moratorium on the issuance of new agricultural water use permits between December 1, 1999 and March 20, 2006 created a third class of permits. During the moratorium period, the EPD received 1,134 permit applications for water use involving the irrigation of approximately 96,219 acres. 8 The EPD has been reviewing and processing the backlog applications since the moratorium was lifted. Legislative amendments to Georgia's water 3 It is important to note that, particularly for Georgia's groundwater users, it is not entirely clear what the actual limits of their rights were prior to 1988. In some instances, it appears that Georgia groundwater users had absolute dominion over their groundwater resources, limited only by their ability to get it out of the ground. In other instances, particularly in the case of a strong hydrological connection between groundwater and surface water, it appears that groundwater users were limited by a reasonableness standard. This issue is discussed in further detail in the
Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, 2011
Concerns about nutrient loads into our waters have focused attention on poultry litter applicatio... more Concerns about nutrient loads into our waters have focused attention on poultry litter applications. Like many states with a large poultry industry, Georgia recently designed a subsidy program to facilitate the transportation of poultry litter out of vulnerable watersheds. This paper uses a transportation model to examine the necessity of a poultry litter subsidy to achieve water protection goals in Georgia. We also demonstrate the relationship between diesel and synthetic fertilizer prices and the value of poultry litter. Results suggest that a well-functioning market would be able to remove excess litter from vulnerable watersheds in the absence of a subsidy.
Water quality trading is a market-based policy tool that is intended to bring increased flexibili... more Water quality trading is a market-based policy tool that is intended to bring increased flexibility and cost savings to wastewater management. It is being actively promoted by federal agencies including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and it is currently included in the draft statewide water management plan for Georgia. Water quality trading is a complex policy tool that raises questions that are both technical and policy oriented. This session will provide an overview of current research on water quality trading in Georgia. This type of research is important because it helps to answer the questions that the potential application of water quality trading in Georgia might raise. Another session in the water policy track at this conference considers the policy issues that water quality trading might raise in Georgia. The panelists include four researchers involved in project examining various aspects of water quality trading: