Reducing Costs of Climate Adaptation: New Evidence from a High Desert

Abstract This study investigates the hypothesis that seawater desalination technology is too costly for widespread benefit for irrigated agriculture. An integrated optimization model is developed to test this hypothesis by assessing the benefits of incorporating affordable desalinated seawater into local urban water supplies, revealing a gain for both cities and farm water users. Using the Rio Grande Basin high desert region of North America as a case study, the economic performance of various water shortage sharing strategies is investigated under current and projected desalination costs, with broader implications for other arid regions internationally. The findings reveal that water trading between agricultural and urban sectors significantly reduces the cost of adapting to climate-induced water stress. Additionally, the availability of affordable desalinated water further enhances these cost reductions, demonstrating its potential to lower the cost of climate adaptation in arid regions worldwide where competition for water is most intense.