Markets for Water, 1998 Potential and Performance Natural Resource Management and Policy Series, Vol. 15

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.

Water Markets: Transaction Costs and Institutional Options.- Institutional Requisites for Efficient Water Markets.- Meeting Water Needs in Developing Countries: Resolving Issues in Establishing Tradable Water Rights.- The Application of Water Market Doctrines in Texas.- Water Markets in Colorado: Past Performance and Needed Changes.- Negotiated Transactions as Conflict Resolution Mechanisms: Water Bargaining in the U.S. West.- Expected Transaction Costs and Incentives for Water Market Development.- Spot Prices, Option Prices, and Water Markets: An Analysis of Emerging Markets in California.- Institutional and Organizational Arrangements for Water Markets in Chile.- Economic and Financial Returns from Chile’s Water Markets.- Opportunities and Constraints to Improved Water Markets in Mexico.- Water Markets in India: Economic and Institutional Aspects.- Groundwater Markets in Pakistan: Institutional Development and Productivity Impacts.- Economic Analysis of Water Markets in the Spanish Agricultural Sector: Can They Provide Substantial Benefits?.- Welfare Gains From Potential Water Markets in Alberta, Canada.- Development of Water Markets Using Experimental Economics.- The Future of Water Markets: A Realistic Perspective.