TARGETING FARMS TO IMPROVE WATER-QUALITY

Voluntary programs to improve the quality of surface and subsurface wa ter affected by agriculture should target the farms that have an econo mic incentive to adopt management systems with water quality benefits. We propose a method that can identify such opportunities within a reg ion by linking a field scale simulation model, a multiobjective decisi on model, and a pair of farm-scale constrained optimization models. Th e simulation model estimates the effect of alternative management syst ems on the quantities of pollutants leaving individual fields and on e conomic returns. The multiobjective decision model uses site specific economic and technical information to score and rank the alternative m anagement systems. An optimization model is solved to select the set o f management systems which are most economically advantageous to the f armer. A second, similar optimization model is solved to select the se t of management systems of interest to society considering offsite wat er quality issues. Farms which have economic incentives to adopt manag ement systems with water quality benefits can be identified and target ed by extension agents or policy makers. (C) Elsevier Science Inc., 19 97.