Abstract
Water management issues continue to plague the western United States, including rapid population growth, degraded aquatic ecosystems, unfulfilled claims to American Indian users, the threat of global warming, an economic recession, and many other issues. This essay outlines some advantages of market-driven reforms to the management of water resources in the western USA. Historical and contemporary western water resource issues are examined from economic, environmental, and social viewpoints. In all such contexts, it is argued that regulated water markets provide flexible and just solutions to western water dilemmas, and reallocations may provide much-needed additional water supply.
Highlights
It is increasingly recognized that international competition for water resources may lead to conflict [1,2], where resources are diminishing
A microcosm of the international situation occurs in the United States, where conflicts over water resources in eastern states have become more numerous in recent decades [3,4]; in western states water disputes have been more commonplace [5,6,7,8]
Given that the water law system in the USA West focuses exclusively on seniority, it tends to ignore water users that are not represented by the prior appropriation scheme, such as environmental uses of water
Summary
It is increasingly recognized that international competition for water resources may lead to conflict [1,2], where resources are diminishing. Given that the water law system in the USA West focuses exclusively on seniority, it tends to ignore water users that are not represented by the prior appropriation scheme, such as environmental uses of water.
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