Irrigation's economic impact: 16,000 jobs at stake
December 3, 2009
There are several reasons to keep the irrigation pumps running on the High Plains - about 16,000 jobs and more than $1 billion of economic benefit, according to a Texas Tech University report.
Written by: Jessica Behnham
There are several reasons to keep the irrigation pumps running on the High Plains - about 16,000 jobs and more than $1 billion of economic benefit.
That's what a Texas Tech University report released Wednesday says.
"While $1.6 billion of economic impact is directly attributable to the production of crops from irrigation, we can conservatively estimate that as that money moves through the local economy, it generates an additional $2.5 billion per year of indirect economic activity," according to the report.
All those jobs and money only come from what it takes to get a crop to market and sold, said Darren Hudson, who led the study from which the report is based. He is director of the Cotton Economic Research Institute and holds the Larry Combest Chair in Agricultural Competitiveness at Texas Tech.