Welcome to WARAT
Welcome to the Water Allocation Risk Analysis Tool (WARAT).
WARAT is a web-based decision tool to assist producers in the Great
Plains with economic decisions regarding allocating irrigation water
and acres among alternative crops. As available water becomes
limited, either through declining water tables or due to
regulations, producers need to determine how to best allocate that
water. WARAT estimates expected (average) returns and a
measure of income variability for different crop-land-water
combinations based on user-provided inputs such that users can
examine the risk-return tradeoffs that exist between alternative
resource allocations.
The WARAT project was
conceived to help Great Plains producers, irrigating out of the
Ogallala Acquifer, to make informed decisions regarding the economic
optimal use of their water allocations. More specifically, the project
is intended to help producers better understand 1) the relationship between
irrigation water and yield for major crops (e.g., corn, cotton,
soybeans, grain sorghum, alfalfa, wheat, and pasture), 2)
water-dependent measures of yield variation for these major crops,
and 3) drivers of variability in farm profitability for individual
users' operations.