I just wanted to post a link to this commentary (that came to me by way of Aquafornia) about water marketing in California. It makes the point that opening up markets can create unequal opportunities, when one one part of the supply chain is (functionally) controlled by a monopoly (the federal government). Something that could be very prevalent throughout the West, where the Bureau of Reclamation controls access to much of the big water that goes to agriculture and might find its way into markets in the coming years.
This is also my way of introducing the upcoming Water Rights Trading Summit being hosted by American Water Intelligence and WestWater Research, in Scottsdale, AZ, in early Feb.
Should be an interesting conference. And I'm hoping to re-connect with some contacts I haven't seen in a while at the conference.
1 comment:
Thanks for this link.
I am investigating water markets from the point of view of agent based economics. In this view, a person has to consider carefully that a number of pieces of a market do not respond in a traditional supply and demand mode. They do not respond this way because the people who are the supply chain do not get promoted or demoted for following supply and demand forces. They get promoted and demoted for following counter-economic regulations, such as providing opportunities for campaign fund raising not water management (see the book "Republic, Lost")
Post a Comment