A 2019 report coproduced by DWFI and Mammoth Trading offers insight into the use of water transfers as a way to reduce water scarcity risk and meet competing demands among agricultural, environmental and urban interests.
A 2019 report coproduced by DWFI and Mammoth Trading offers insight into the use of water transfers as a way to reduce water scarcity risk and meet competing demands among agricultural, environmental and urban interests.
Most water rights trading is done at a local level without standardized regulations or documentation. This report helps define the different forms of water markets in play and how they are being used to provide value and risk management.
The report includes input from dozens of water practitioners and policymakers throughout the Western United States, as well as data collected from a number of published research papers. The authors used these resources to identify the types of water transfers that are occurring, the challenges around transfers, the policies for monitoring and enforcing transfers and the methods of data collection and reporting.
Since agricultural irrigation accounts for more than 60% of freshwater use in the Western U.S., understanding how water transfers are working – or not – can have a tremendous impact on both food and water security. This report sheds light on how farmers and water managers can use water transfers to better manage the resource and mitigate risk.