Water Reallocation Policies – The Importance of Rural and Urban Differences in Alberta, Canada
There is currently intensive debate in Alberta,
Canada, regarding rural to urban water reallocation. This paper
explores the demographic and attitudinal influences that are
associated with the acceptance of water reallocation policies and
whether such acceptance differs between urban and rural residents.
We investigate three policy orientations in regards to water policies:
i) government intervention; ii) environmental protection; and iii)
protecting irrigators- water rights. We find that urban dwellers are
more likely to favour government intervention while rural dwellers
are more likely to support policies that aim at protecting irrigators-
water rights. While urban dwellers are also more likely to favour
environmental protection, the difference is not statistically
significant. We also find that other factors have a significant impact
on policy choice irrespective of residence such as demographic and
socioeconomic factors as well as the values people hold toward water
and the environment.
[1] M. Celio, C. Scott, and M. Giordano, "Urban-agricultural water
appropiation: the Hyderabad, India case", The Geographical Journal,
vol. 176, np. 1, pp. 39-57, 2010.
[2] R. Meinzen-Dick, and P.P. Appasamy, "Urbanization and Intersectoral
Competition for Water", in Finding the source, The linkages between
population and water, Environmental Change and Security Project,
Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars,
2002, pp. 27-51.
[3] M. Dyson, G. Bergkamp, and J. Scanlon, Flow: The Essentials of
Environmental Flows, Gland, Switzerland: IUCN - The World
Conservation Union, 2003.
[4] World Health Organization, The Global Burden of Disease: 2004 Updat,
New York: WHO, 2008.
[5] A.K. Gerlak, "Today-s Pragmatic Water Policy: Restoration,
Collaboration, and Adaptive Management Along U.S. Rivers", Society
and Natural Resources, vol. 21, pp. 538-545, 2008.
[6] Watson, "A National Plan for Water Security: Pluses and Minuses",
Connections - Farm, Food and Resources, vol. 7, no. 1, 2007.
[7] S. Postel, Pillars of Sand. Can the Irrigation Miracle Last?, New York:
Norton and Co., 1999.
[8] J. Pincus, and P. Shapiro, "Between Forced Resumption and Voluntary
Sale: A Mechanism for the Collective Sale or Transfer of Irrigation
Water", Economic Papers, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 303-314, 2008.
[9] J. Quiggin, "Urban Water Supply in Australia: the Option of Diverting
Water from Irrigation", Public Policy, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 14-22, 2006.
[10] Alberta Environment, Draft Water Management Plan for the South
Saskwatchean River Basin in Alberta, Edmonton: Alberta Environment,
2005.
[11] Poirier, and R. de Loë, "Protecting aquatic ecosystems in heavilyallocated
river systems: the case of the Oldman River Basin, Alberta",
The Canadian Geographer, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 243-261, 2011.
[12] R.A. Young, "Why are there so few transactions among water users?",
American Journal of Agricultural Economics, vol. 68, no. 5, pp. 1143-
1151, 1986.
[13] J. Rolfe, Associated off-farm economic values of saving water and
restoring pressure in the Great Artesian Basin, Australian Department of
the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, 2008.
[14] S. Hatfield-Dodds, G.J. Syme, and A. Leitch, "Improving Australian
water management", Reform, A Journal of National and International
Law Reform, Water, pp. 44-48, 2006/2007.
[15] J.L. Howard, "The Future of the Murray River: Amenity Re-
Considered?", Geographical Research, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 291-302, 2007.
[16] M.W. Rosegrant, and C. Ringler, Impact on food security and rural
development of reallocating water from agriculture, Washinton, USA:
International Food Policy Research Institute, 1999.
[17] R.C. Bastakoti, and G.P. Shivakoti, "Community organizations in water
resource governance: Rural-Urban interface of irrigation management in
Thailand", in Proc. 13th IWRA Word Water Congress, Montpellier,
France, 2008.
[18] F.A. Ward, "Decision support for water policy: a review of economic
concepts and tools", Water Policy, vol. 9, pp. 1-31, 2007.
[19] P. Vugteveen, H.J. Lenders, R.J.H.M. Van Der Veeren, M.A. Wiering,
and A.J. Hendriks, "Stakeholder value orientations in water
management", Society and Natural Resources, vol. 23, pp. 1-17, 2010.
[20] P.C. Stern, "Toward a coherent theory of environmentally significant
behaviour", Journal of Social Issues, vol. 56, no. 3, pp. 407-424, 2000.
[21] P.C. Stern, and T. Dietz, "The value basis of environmental concern",
Journal of Social Issues, vol. 50, pp. 65-84, 1994.
[22] M. Avalos, and T. De Young, "Preferences for water policy in the
Ogallala region of New Mexico", Policy Studies Journal, vol. 23, no. 4,
pp. 668-685, 1995.
[23] Demers, A. Long, T. Grob, and C McElvey, The Florida Forest Steward,
vol. 7, no. 2, 2000,
http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/Extension/FFSnl/ffsnl72.htm.
[24] R.E. Jones, and R.E. Dunlap, "The social bases of environmental
concern: Have they changed over time?", Rural Sociology, vol. 57, no.
1, pp. 28-47, 1992.
[25] G.D. Lowe, and C.W. Peek, "Location and Lifestyle: The Comparative
Explanatory Ability of Urbanism and Rurality", Rural Sociology, vol.
39, no. 3, pp. 392-420, 1974.
[26] R.G. Pumphrey, J.A. Edwards, and K.G. Becker, "Urban and rural
attitudes toward municipal water controls: A study of a semi-arid region
with limited water supplies", Ecologycal Economics,vol. 65, pp. 1-12,
2008.
[27] K.D. Van Liere, and R.E. Dunlap, "The social bases of environmental
concern: A review of hypotheses, explanations and empirical evidence",
American Association for Public Opinion Research, Public Opinion
Quarterly, vol. 44, pp. 181-197, 1980.
[28] R.E. Jones, J.M. Fly, and H.K. Cordell, "How Green Is My Value?
Tracking Rural and Urban Environmentalism in the Southern
Appalachian Ecoregion", Rural Sociology, vol. 64, no. 4, pp. 82-99,
1999.
[29] J. Morrissey, and R. Manning, "Race, residence and environmental
concern: New Englanders and the White Mountain National Forest",
Human Ecology Review, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 12-24, 2000.
[30] Huddart-Kennedy, T. Beckley, B. McFarlane, and S. Nadeau, "Rural-
Urban Differences in Environmental Concern in Canada", Rural
Sociology, vol. 74, no. 3, pp. 309-329, 2009.
[31] G. Lowe, and T. Pinhey, "Rural - Urban Differences in Support for
Environmental Protection", Rural Sociology, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 114-128,
1982.
[32] J. Sharp, and L. Adua, "The Social Basis of Agro-Environmental
Concern: Physical versus Social Proximity", Rural Sociology, vol. 74,
no. 1, pp. 56-85, 2009.
[33] Statistics Canada, Human Activity and the Environment. Annual
Statistics 2003, Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 2003.
[34] H. Bjornlund, L. Nicol, and K. Klein, "The Adoption of Improved
Irrigation Technology and Management Practices - A Study of Two
Irrigation Districts in Alberta, Canada", Journal of Agricultural Water
Management, vol. 96, pp. 121-131, 2009.
[35] Alberta Environment, "Water for Life - Alberta-s strategy for
sustainability", Edmonton: Alberta Environment, 2003.
[36] L. Nicol, K. Klein, and H. Bjornlund, "Permanent Transfers of water
rights: A study of the southern Alberta market", Prairie Forum, vol. 33,
no. 2, pp. 341-356, 2008.
[37] R. Christensen, and D. Droitsch, Fight to the Last Drop: A Glimpse Into
Alberta's Water Future, Vancouver, BC, and Banff, Alberta: Ecojustice,
Bow Riverkeeper, 2008.
[38] H. Bjornlund, L. Nicol, and K. Klein, "Challenges in Implementing
Economic Instruments to Manage Irrigation Water on Farms in Southern
Alberta", Journal of Agricultural Water Management, vol. 92, pp. 131-
141, 2007.
[39] Alberta Water Council, Recommendations for improving Alberta-s water
transfer system, Report prepared by the Water Allocation Transfer
System Upgrade Project Team, 2009.
[40] Alberta Water Research Institute, Towards Sustainability Phase 1: Ideas
and Opportunities for improving Allocation and Management in Alberta,
Edmonton, 2009.
[41] H. Bjornlund, The Competition for Water: Striking a Balance among
Social, Environmental and Economic Needs, Commentary No 302,
Toronto: Governance and Public Institution, C.D. Howe Institute, 2010.
[42] Minister-s Advisory Group, Recommendations for improving Alberta-s
Water management and Allocation, Edmonton, 2009.
[43] J.F.Jr. Hair, R.E. Anderson, R.L. Tatham, and W.C. Black, Multivariate
Data Analysis, 5th ed., Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998.
[44] J. Stevens, Applied Multivariate Statistics for the Social Sciences, 4th
ed., Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002.
[45] G.H. Thomson, The Factorial Analysis of Human Ability, London:
University of London Press, 1951.
[46] W. Greene, Econometric Analysis, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.,
2008.
[47] T.M. Hagle, and G.E. Mitchell, "Goodness-of-fit measures for probit and
logit.", American Journal of Political Science, vol. 36, pp. 762-784,
1992.
[48] F.A.G. Windmeijer, "Goodness-of-fit measures in binary choice
models", Econometric Reviews, vol. 14, pp. 101-116, 1995.
[49] S. Wheeler, H. Bjornlund, and A. Zuo, "The Need for more
Environmental Flows in the River Murray in Australia: Investigating
Irrigators- Recognition and Intentions over Time", CRMA Working
paper, Adelaide: University of South Australia, 2010.
[50] K. Fielding, D. Terry, B. Masser, and M. Hogg, "Integrating social
identity theory and the theory of planned behaviour to explain decisions
to engage in sustainable agricultural practices", Brit. J. Soc. Psych., vol.
47, pp. 23-48, 2008.
[51] D.M. Samdahl, and R. Robertson, "Social determinants of envrionmental
concern - specification and test of model", Environment and Behaviour,
vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 57-81, 1989.
[52] R.E. Dunlap, and R.B. Heffernan, "Outdoor recreation and
environmental concern: an empirical examination", Rural Sociology,
vol. 40, pp. 18-30, 1975.
[53] G.L. Theodori, A.E. Luloff, and F.K. Willits, "The Association of
outdoor recreation and environmental concern: re-examining the
Dunlap_Heffernan Thesis", Rural Sociology, vol. 63, no. 1, pp. 94-108,
1998.
[1] M. Celio, C. Scott, and M. Giordano, "Urban-agricultural water
appropiation: the Hyderabad, India case", The Geographical Journal,
vol. 176, np. 1, pp. 39-57, 2010.
[2] R. Meinzen-Dick, and P.P. Appasamy, "Urbanization and Intersectoral
Competition for Water", in Finding the source, The linkages between
population and water, Environmental Change and Security Project,
Washington, DC: Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars,
2002, pp. 27-51.
[3] M. Dyson, G. Bergkamp, and J. Scanlon, Flow: The Essentials of
Environmental Flows, Gland, Switzerland: IUCN - The World
Conservation Union, 2003.
[4] World Health Organization, The Global Burden of Disease: 2004 Updat,
New York: WHO, 2008.
[5] A.K. Gerlak, "Today-s Pragmatic Water Policy: Restoration,
Collaboration, and Adaptive Management Along U.S. Rivers", Society
and Natural Resources, vol. 21, pp. 538-545, 2008.
[6] Watson, "A National Plan for Water Security: Pluses and Minuses",
Connections - Farm, Food and Resources, vol. 7, no. 1, 2007.
[7] S. Postel, Pillars of Sand. Can the Irrigation Miracle Last?, New York:
Norton and Co., 1999.
[8] J. Pincus, and P. Shapiro, "Between Forced Resumption and Voluntary
Sale: A Mechanism for the Collective Sale or Transfer of Irrigation
Water", Economic Papers, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 303-314, 2008.
[9] J. Quiggin, "Urban Water Supply in Australia: the Option of Diverting
Water from Irrigation", Public Policy, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 14-22, 2006.
[10] Alberta Environment, Draft Water Management Plan for the South
Saskwatchean River Basin in Alberta, Edmonton: Alberta Environment,
2005.
[11] Poirier, and R. de Loë, "Protecting aquatic ecosystems in heavilyallocated
river systems: the case of the Oldman River Basin, Alberta",
The Canadian Geographer, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 243-261, 2011.
[12] R.A. Young, "Why are there so few transactions among water users?",
American Journal of Agricultural Economics, vol. 68, no. 5, pp. 1143-
1151, 1986.
[13] J. Rolfe, Associated off-farm economic values of saving water and
restoring pressure in the Great Artesian Basin, Australian Department of
the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, 2008.
[14] S. Hatfield-Dodds, G.J. Syme, and A. Leitch, "Improving Australian
water management", Reform, A Journal of National and International
Law Reform, Water, pp. 44-48, 2006/2007.
[15] J.L. Howard, "The Future of the Murray River: Amenity Re-
Considered?", Geographical Research, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 291-302, 2007.
[16] M.W. Rosegrant, and C. Ringler, Impact on food security and rural
development of reallocating water from agriculture, Washinton, USA:
International Food Policy Research Institute, 1999.
[17] R.C. Bastakoti, and G.P. Shivakoti, "Community organizations in water
resource governance: Rural-Urban interface of irrigation management in
Thailand", in Proc. 13th IWRA Word Water Congress, Montpellier,
France, 2008.
[18] F.A. Ward, "Decision support for water policy: a review of economic
concepts and tools", Water Policy, vol. 9, pp. 1-31, 2007.
[19] P. Vugteveen, H.J. Lenders, R.J.H.M. Van Der Veeren, M.A. Wiering,
and A.J. Hendriks, "Stakeholder value orientations in water
management", Society and Natural Resources, vol. 23, pp. 1-17, 2010.
[20] P.C. Stern, "Toward a coherent theory of environmentally significant
behaviour", Journal of Social Issues, vol. 56, no. 3, pp. 407-424, 2000.
[21] P.C. Stern, and T. Dietz, "The value basis of environmental concern",
Journal of Social Issues, vol. 50, pp. 65-84, 1994.
[22] M. Avalos, and T. De Young, "Preferences for water policy in the
Ogallala region of New Mexico", Policy Studies Journal, vol. 23, no. 4,
pp. 668-685, 1995.
[23] Demers, A. Long, T. Grob, and C McElvey, The Florida Forest Steward,
vol. 7, no. 2, 2000,
http://www.sfrc.ufl.edu/Extension/FFSnl/ffsnl72.htm.
[24] R.E. Jones, and R.E. Dunlap, "The social bases of environmental
concern: Have they changed over time?", Rural Sociology, vol. 57, no.
1, pp. 28-47, 1992.
[25] G.D. Lowe, and C.W. Peek, "Location and Lifestyle: The Comparative
Explanatory Ability of Urbanism and Rurality", Rural Sociology, vol.
39, no. 3, pp. 392-420, 1974.
[26] R.G. Pumphrey, J.A. Edwards, and K.G. Becker, "Urban and rural
attitudes toward municipal water controls: A study of a semi-arid region
with limited water supplies", Ecologycal Economics,vol. 65, pp. 1-12,
2008.
[27] K.D. Van Liere, and R.E. Dunlap, "The social bases of environmental
concern: A review of hypotheses, explanations and empirical evidence",
American Association for Public Opinion Research, Public Opinion
Quarterly, vol. 44, pp. 181-197, 1980.
[28] R.E. Jones, J.M. Fly, and H.K. Cordell, "How Green Is My Value?
Tracking Rural and Urban Environmentalism in the Southern
Appalachian Ecoregion", Rural Sociology, vol. 64, no. 4, pp. 82-99,
1999.
[29] J. Morrissey, and R. Manning, "Race, residence and environmental
concern: New Englanders and the White Mountain National Forest",
Human Ecology Review, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 12-24, 2000.
[30] Huddart-Kennedy, T. Beckley, B. McFarlane, and S. Nadeau, "Rural-
Urban Differences in Environmental Concern in Canada", Rural
Sociology, vol. 74, no. 3, pp. 309-329, 2009.
[31] G. Lowe, and T. Pinhey, "Rural - Urban Differences in Support for
Environmental Protection", Rural Sociology, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 114-128,
1982.
[32] J. Sharp, and L. Adua, "The Social Basis of Agro-Environmental
Concern: Physical versus Social Proximity", Rural Sociology, vol. 74,
no. 1, pp. 56-85, 2009.
[33] Statistics Canada, Human Activity and the Environment. Annual
Statistics 2003, Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 2003.
[34] H. Bjornlund, L. Nicol, and K. Klein, "The Adoption of Improved
Irrigation Technology and Management Practices - A Study of Two
Irrigation Districts in Alberta, Canada", Journal of Agricultural Water
Management, vol. 96, pp. 121-131, 2009.
[35] Alberta Environment, "Water for Life - Alberta-s strategy for
sustainability", Edmonton: Alberta Environment, 2003.
[36] L. Nicol, K. Klein, and H. Bjornlund, "Permanent Transfers of water
rights: A study of the southern Alberta market", Prairie Forum, vol. 33,
no. 2, pp. 341-356, 2008.
[37] R. Christensen, and D. Droitsch, Fight to the Last Drop: A Glimpse Into
Alberta's Water Future, Vancouver, BC, and Banff, Alberta: Ecojustice,
Bow Riverkeeper, 2008.
[38] H. Bjornlund, L. Nicol, and K. Klein, "Challenges in Implementing
Economic Instruments to Manage Irrigation Water on Farms in Southern
Alberta", Journal of Agricultural Water Management, vol. 92, pp. 131-
141, 2007.
[39] Alberta Water Council, Recommendations for improving Alberta-s water
transfer system, Report prepared by the Water Allocation Transfer
System Upgrade Project Team, 2009.
[40] Alberta Water Research Institute, Towards Sustainability Phase 1: Ideas
and Opportunities for improving Allocation and Management in Alberta,
Edmonton, 2009.
[41] H. Bjornlund, The Competition for Water: Striking a Balance among
Social, Environmental and Economic Needs, Commentary No 302,
Toronto: Governance and Public Institution, C.D. Howe Institute, 2010.
[42] Minister-s Advisory Group, Recommendations for improving Alberta-s
Water management and Allocation, Edmonton, 2009.
[43] J.F.Jr. Hair, R.E. Anderson, R.L. Tatham, and W.C. Black, Multivariate
Data Analysis, 5th ed., Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998.
[44] J. Stevens, Applied Multivariate Statistics for the Social Sciences, 4th
ed., Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002.
[45] G.H. Thomson, The Factorial Analysis of Human Ability, London:
University of London Press, 1951.
[46] W. Greene, Econometric Analysis, New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.,
2008.
[47] T.M. Hagle, and G.E. Mitchell, "Goodness-of-fit measures for probit and
logit.", American Journal of Political Science, vol. 36, pp. 762-784,
1992.
[48] F.A.G. Windmeijer, "Goodness-of-fit measures in binary choice
models", Econometric Reviews, vol. 14, pp. 101-116, 1995.
[49] S. Wheeler, H. Bjornlund, and A. Zuo, "The Need for more
Environmental Flows in the River Murray in Australia: Investigating
Irrigators- Recognition and Intentions over Time", CRMA Working
paper, Adelaide: University of South Australia, 2010.
[50] K. Fielding, D. Terry, B. Masser, and M. Hogg, "Integrating social
identity theory and the theory of planned behaviour to explain decisions
to engage in sustainable agricultural practices", Brit. J. Soc. Psych., vol.
47, pp. 23-48, 2008.
[51] D.M. Samdahl, and R. Robertson, "Social determinants of envrionmental
concern - specification and test of model", Environment and Behaviour,
vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 57-81, 1989.
[52] R.E. Dunlap, and R.B. Heffernan, "Outdoor recreation and
environmental concern: an empirical examination", Rural Sociology,
vol. 40, pp. 18-30, 1975.
[53] G.L. Theodori, A.E. Luloff, and F.K. Willits, "The Association of
outdoor recreation and environmental concern: re-examining the
Dunlap_Heffernan Thesis", Rural Sociology, vol. 63, no. 1, pp. 94-108,
1998.
@article{"International Journal of Business, Human and Social Sciences:54535", author = "Henning Bjornlund and Alec Zuo and Sarah Wheeler and Rob de Loë", title = "Water Reallocation Policies – The Importance of Rural and Urban Differences in Alberta, Canada", abstract = "There is currently intensive debate in Alberta,
Canada, regarding rural to urban water reallocation. This paper
explores the demographic and attitudinal influences that are
associated with the acceptance of water reallocation policies and
whether such acceptance differs between urban and rural residents.
We investigate three policy orientations in regards to water policies:
i) government intervention; ii) environmental protection; and iii)
protecting irrigators- water rights. We find that urban dwellers are
more likely to favour government intervention while rural dwellers
are more likely to support policies that aim at protecting irrigators-
water rights. While urban dwellers are also more likely to favour
environmental protection, the difference is not statistically
significant. We also find that other factors have a significant impact
on policy choice irrespective of residence such as demographic and
socioeconomic factors as well as the values people hold toward water
and the environment.", keywords = "Canada, rural, urban, water transfers.", volume = "7", number = "4", pages = "904-9", }
