CITIES VS. AGRICULTURE: REVISITING THE 'ALLOCATION STRESS'

摘要

Water demand management, or making better use of the water we have-as opposed tornaugmenting supply-is increasingly proposed as a way of mitigating water-scarcity problems.rnMoving water away from agriculture to uses with higher economic value is one of the mainrnmeasures widely seen as desirable. Sectoral "allocation stress" is seen as resulting from therndisproportionate share, and inefficient use, of water in the agricultural sector. This apparentrnmisallocation is often attributed to the failure of the government to allocate water rationally.rnThis paper revisits this commonly-accepted wisdom and examines the nature of urban waterrnscarcity, showing the importance of economic and political factors, shaped by incentives torndecision-makers, and sometimes compounded by climatic conditions. It shows that cities' growthrnis generally little constrained by the competition with agriculture. In general, rather than using arnnarrow financial criterion, cities select options that go along the "path of least resistance,"rnwhereby economic, social and political costs are considered in conjunction. The question of thernallocation stress is thus reframed into an inquiry of how transfer effectively occur and can bernmade more effective.