Tremendous development of irrigation since the 1960s combined with unbalanced water resources management led to the destruction of the ecosystems in the delta zone and the gradual desiccation of the Aral Sea, once the fourth largest freshwater lake of the world. Command-and-control-based water management in the Aral Sea basin inherited from Soviet times did not create any incentives for investing in improved irrigation infrastructure, adopt water-wise approaches, and thus maintain flows into the Aral Sea. This study examined the potential for market-based water allocation to increase inflows to the Aral Sea while maintaining stable agricultural incomes. We find that a water trading system can improve inflows to the Aral Sea but would require significant compensation for agricultural producers. Agricultural producers can use the compensation payments to cope with reduced water supply by improving irrigation and conveyance efficiencies and by developing alternative rural activities such as livestock grazing, agro-processing, and cultivation of low water-consumptive crops. We also find that a water trading system would be more efficient if it includes both trade among irrigation sites and between sites and instream uses. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

中文翻译：

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增加咸海流入量的水权交易方法

1960 年代以来灌溉的巨大发展，加上水资源管理不平衡，导致三角洲地区的生态系统遭到破坏，咸海逐渐干涸，咸海曾经是世界第四大淡水湖。从苏联时代继承下来的咸海盆地基于命令和控制的水资源管理并没有为投资改善灌溉基础设施、采用明智的水方法，从而维持流入咸海的流量创造任何动力。本研究考察了基于市场的水资源分配在增加咸海流入量的同时保持稳定农业收入的潜力。我们发现水交易系统可以改善咸海的流入量，但需要对农业生产者进行大量补偿。农业生产者可以通过提高灌溉和输送效率以及发展替代性农村活动（如放牧、农产品加工和低耗水作物种植）来使用补偿金来应对供水减少的问题。我们还发现，如果水交易系统包括灌溉地点之间以及地点和河流内用途之间的贸易，它会更有效率。版权所有 © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.