The agriculture of the Texas High Plains (THP) region is primarily dependent on groundwater irrigation. Changing weather patterns along with competing demands for water resources and other anthropogenic effects have dramatically increased withdrawals from the Ogallala aquifer. In addition to on-farm changes, policy tools based on off-farm mechanisms are equally indispensable in addressing sustainable groundwater use in the THP. One such policy tool is water pricing using estimates of price elasticity of irrigation water demand. This paper estimates the elasticity of irrigation water demand in the THP and assesses the influence of water price on major inputs used in dominant irrigated crops such as corn and cotton. Using the translog profit function on an annual county-level dataset of THP crop production, spanning 23 years (1998–2020), we find that irrigation water demand is price elastic for cotton (η = – 1.58) but inelastic for corn (η = – 0.81). Our findings suggest that a non-uniform pricing policy could be a useful tool to promote the efficient use of groundwater for irrigation.

The coastal zone of Louisiana contains more than 3 million wetland acres and has the highest acreage of salt marsh of any state. However, Louisiana accounts for 80 percent of the nation’s coastal land loss. The loss of Louisiana’s coastal wetlands results in changes in economic and ecological benefits on local communities. The purpose of the study is to investigate the factors that motivate private coastal landowners to participate in income-generating activities and the level of income derived from their coastal wetland parcels and to gauge their opinion of potential policy instruments for coastal wetlands stewardship. A double-hurdle model was applied to econometrically identify the determinants on the participation and level of participation in income-generating activities using data collected from a sample of coastal wetland owners. The results based on the estimated parameters and marginal effects revealed that decisions to participate and the level of participation are related to physical characteristics of the wetland and socioeconomic characteristics of the landowner. For example, the type of wetland is the primary factor influencing the decision to participate and the level of participation. In addition, understanding the landowner’s attitude toward wetland restoration program provides the opportunity for policymakers to better evaluate current and potential policies for coastal management in Louisiana.