Incorporating Instream Flow Values Into a Water Market
Incorporating Instream Flow Values Into a Water Market

Author: James J. Murphy

Publisher:

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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We use laboratory experiments to test three different water market institutions designed to incorporate instream flow values into the allocation. The institutions are (1) a baseline with fixed minimum flow constraints, (2) an environmental agent contributing to the cost of providing instream flows, and (3) creating an instream flow right in which an environmental agent can sell the right to reduced flows. Using a "smart" computer-coordinated market, we find that direct environmental participation in the market can achieve highly efficient and stable allocations. A particularly attractive and practical feature of the third institution is that it nests the status quo in the sense that, should the environmental agent choose not to participate in the market, the default minimum instream flow constraints will be maintained. Although flows may be lower in this institution relative to a fixed constraint on minimum flows, because these flow reductions are voluntary and compensated, all deviations from the status quo (i.e., binding flow constraints) are necessarily Pareto improving in the sense that no agent, including the environment, is made worse off.

Water Trading and Global Water Scarcity
Water Trading and Global Water Scarcity

Author: Josefina Maestu

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 378

ISBN-13: 0415638216

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Water scarcity is an increasing problem in many parts of the world, yet conventional supply-side economics and management are insufficient to deal with it. One of the key water management options for water demand is water trading. This book explores the role of water trading, as an instrument of integrated water resources management.

Markets for Water
Markets for Water

Author: K. William Easter

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2007-08-20

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 0585320888

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Markets for Water: Potential and Performance dispels many of the myths surrounding water markets and gives readers a comprehensive picture of the way that markets have developed in different parts of the world. It is possible, for example, for a water market to fail, and for the transaction costs in water markets to be excessive. Too often water trading is banned because the water resources have been developed with public funds and the water agencies do not want to lose control over water. There is also a concern that poor farmers or households will be disadvantaged by water trading. These concerns about public resources and the poor are not very different from those that have been voiced in the past about land sales. The problem is that in many cases the poor already have limited access to resources, but this limit is not due to water trading. In fact, water trading is likely to expand the access to water for many small-scale farmers. Markets for Water: Potential and Performance provides an analytical framework for water market establishment. It develops the necessary conditions for water markets and illustrates how they can improve both water management and economic efficiency. Finally, the book gives readers an up-to-date picture of what we have learned about water markets in a wide range of countries, from the US to Chile and India.

Smart Markets for Water Resources
Smart Markets for Water Resources

Author: John F. Raffensperger

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-04-20

Total Pages: 333

ISBN-13: 331955008X

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Why is trade in wholesale water so rare, when markets can actively trade bread, tractors, and electricity? This book shows that water markets fail because of high transaction costs, resulting in inefficient allocations and unpredictable environmental effects. To overcome these obstacles, this book proposes a trading mechanism called a smart market. A smart market is an auction cleared with optimization. A smart market can reduce the transaction costs of water trading, while improving the environmental outcomes. The authors show why a smart market for water is needed, how it would work, and how to implement it. The smart market described here uses a hydrology simulation of the water resource, user bids via the internet, and mathematical optimization, to maximize the economic value of water while meeting all environmental constraints. The book provides the background to understand the smart market for water, and the detail to help the reader start working on its application. The book explores topics such as: Why water should be more expensive near sensitive environmental locations, Ways to set initial allocations of water rights, The role of regulatory oversight, The prerequisites of a water market, and How to counter objections to water markets. The culmination of a decade of investigation, this book combines explanation, examples, and detail to inform policymakers, large water users, environmental organizations, researchers, and a thirsty public.

Handbook of Water Economics
Handbook of Water Economics

Author: Ariel Dinar

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

Published: 2015-09-25

Total Pages: 541

ISBN-13: 1782549668

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Water scarcity, whether in the quality or quantity dimension, afflicts most countries. Decisions on water management and allocation over time, space, and among uses and users involve economic considerations. This Handbook assembles research that represents recent thinking and applications in water economics. The book chapters are written by leading scholars in the field who address issues related to its use, management, and value. The topics cover analytical methods, sectoral and intersectoral water issues, and issues associated with different sources of water.