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The EPA is considering an application from the state of Colorado for a large dam project on the Colorado River. The basic costs and benefits

  1. The EPA is considering an application from the state of Colorado for a large dam project on the Colorado River. The basic costs and benefits of the project (in inflation-adjusted dollar values) are as follows:

Costs

$900 million/year first three years

Construction costs:

Operating costs:

$80 million/year

Agricultural product lost from flooded lands:

$65 million/year

Forest products lost from flooded lands:

$40 million/year

Benefits

Revenues from Power Generation

Hydropower generated:

4 billion Kilowatt hours/year

Price of electricity:

$0.125/Kilowatt hour

Revenues from Irrigation Services

Irrigation water available from the dam:

200K Acre-Feet

Price of water:

$700/Acre-Foot

  1. Do a formal Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) using the quantifiable factors listed above. Assume that the operating lifespan of the dam is 30 years. Assume construction begins in year 1. All other impacts start when the dam is completed (at the beginning of Year 4) and continue for 30 years, which implies the full lifespan for the project is 33 years.
  2. Using the same parameters and results from part (a.), adjust the interest rate to determine the level of discounting necessary to just break even. (Hint: I would start by changing the interest rate in 1% increments and then refine the changes as you get close to the break-even point.) What does this increase or decrease in interest rate imply about the relationship between costs and benefits over time?
  3. Finally, holding constant the analysis you did in part (c.) what happens when you increase the acre-foot price of irrigation water from $700 to $1500 and/or the price per kilowatt hour of electricity from $0.125 to $0.15?

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