@article{Zilberman:278829,
      recid = {278829},
      author = {Zilberman, David and Dinar, Ariel and MacDougall, Neal and  Khanna, Madu and Brown, Cheryl and Castillo, Fredrico},
      title = {Private and Institutional Adaptation to Water Scarcity  During the California Drought, 1987-1992},
      address = {1998-07},
      number = {1486-2018-6822},
      series = {9802},
      pages = {81},
      year = {1998},
      abstract = {This Staff Paper documents the responses of water users  and water managers to the 1987-- 1992 drought in  California, based on surveys of irrigation districts and  irrigation equipment dealers in late 1991 and additional  anecdotal information. The findings are consistent with  predicted behavior as suggested by economic theory. The  main findings are: (1) The use of water-storage reserves  delayed necessary reductions in water deliveries. (2)  Farmers responded to reduced water supplies in various  ways, including increased ground-water pumping, adoption of  more costly water-conserving irrigation technologies and  management practices, and changes in land use by switching  to higher value crops or fallowing low-value field-crop  acreage. (3) The continuous drought led to institutional  changes at the Federal, State, and waterdistrict levels,  such as introduction of incentives for water conservation,  establishment of a framework for water trade, and  provisions for agreement between water suppliers and water  users concerning actions to be taken by each. The nature  and intensity of the response varied by the agro-climatic  region within California, since soil and weather conditions  affect cropping patterns and the ability of farmers to  adapt existing water management practices to drought  conditions.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/278829},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.278829},
}