Okanagan Irrigation Benefit Cost Analysis

British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley receives between 250 and 350 millimeters of precipitation per year.  Without irrigation, it would not be possible to grow many of the high value horticultural crops for which the valley is well known.  Climate change promises to increase the extent over which these crops can be grown, and create opportunities for new crops.  However, that same climate change promises to increase crop water needs.
Agricultural producers in the Okanagan are making investments in anticipation of the changing climate.  This ad hoc adaptation threatens to lock in patterns of water use that are inconsistent with maximizing the overall value that could be realized.  We seek a postdoctoral fellow to undertake a cost benefit analysis of a small number of feasible water infrastructure investments, relative to the likely evolution of water rights acquisitions without such coordination.
Decisions about water are contentious almost everywhere, and the Okanagan is no exception.  Engaging affected and affecting communities of interest with the development of the cost benefit analysis – a participatory cost benefit analysis – will be essential.  From the initial identification of the projects through to validating the cost and benefit values and the components of the sensitivity analysis, regular interaction with local communities of interest will be central to the success of this project.