Water Use and Reuse Management in Arid Zones-The Case of Mendoza, Argentina

The paper briefly exposes several aspects related to water use, emphasizing the role of water discharge and re-use in agriculture. Mendoza is an Argentinian State located in a typical arid region. As such, Mendoza has grown on the basis of intensive surface and ground water use, confronting today a clear overexploitation of the ground water reserves. This situation imposes a burden of increasing pumping costs and decreasing water quality for future generations. As it is well known, the common use of natural resource (ground water reserves) is characterized by a time externality, which consititutes a market imperfection. In addition to this population growth, improvement in urban water provision and sewage services, increasing industrial water demand, etc., impose a host of problems in terms of water quantity and quality. In all these cases, it is commonly agreed, public action is required.