Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
that prevents people from buying up water rights and not allowing
anyone to use them.
“The problem with simply making water a commodity,” the
Sierra Club's Kramer adds, “is that you lose the perspective that
water is a basic resource everyone must have. It's not like other
products that may or may not be essential to human life or well-
being. As human beings, we must recognize that water is an essen-
tial element of our lives and not discretionary.”
Water Banks
Western states that follow some form of prior appropriation doctrine
generally also have adopted the concept of water banks to solve increas-
ing market demands and to allow an exchange of water within the
constraints of existing rights. It's a market-based approach that allows
those who have water rights and don't need them to “bank” them so
they're available to others for a price, and generally for a set time.
Water banks are an alternative to the use-it-or-lose-it aspect of
the prior appropriation doctrine, and are a device sanctioned by
some states, says hydrometeorologist Richards. They're also an
example of trying to manage water better during a time of tight
water and within the constraints of our current legal system, he
adds. He doesn't think they go far enough, however. Eventually the
rules themselves may have to change. “What will happen is what's
happening in California already with its water bank: When things
get bad enough, the governmental organizations will come in and
work with the stakeholders,” says Richards.
A transaction with a water bank isn't necessarily as quick as an
ordinary transaction on a commercial commodities exchange, says
Idaho's Tuthill. In Idaho, for example, the water bank is run by the
state. Water exchanges can be for a set period of time, or rights can be
bought and sold, which requires an in-depth water-transfer process.
“We have to ensure that when water is changed in some way the water
right is not enlarged, no one is injured, and it's in the public interest.”
Dellapenna, on the other had, calls water banks state manage-
ment masquerading as a market. “It's hyped that markets are the
solution. The examples people point to as proof markets work
aren't really water markets. For example, Arizona's water bank,
