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Abstract
Outdoor water restrictions are usually implemented as bans on a particular type of
watering technology (sprinklers), which allow households to substitute for labour-intensive
(hand-held) watering. This paper presents a household production model
approach to analysing the impact of sprinkler restrictions on consumer welfare and
their efficacy as a demand management tool. Central to our empirical analysis is an
experimentally derived production function which describes the relationship between
irrigation and lawn quality. We demonstrate that for a typical consumer complete
sprinkler bans may be little more effective than milder restrictions policies, but are
substantially more costly to the household.