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<br />l~ <br />,,") <br /> <br />,.....: <br />... <br /> <br />C'i <br /> <br />('~ <br /> <br />G.. <br /> <br />178 J. ENERGY, NAT. RESOURCES, & ENVTL. L. [Vol. 13 <br /> <br />assessment and loss aversion.'o7 Experiments have shown that <br />parties tend to overestimate their options, and are reluctant to trade <br />concessions.lOB Also, decisionmakers tend to disproportionately weigh <br />losses when compared to equivalent gains.lo. Consequently, these <br />cognitive barriers may make parties hesitant to trade concessions, even <br />if they are mutually advantageous, Thus, many fanners may simply be <br />unwilling to give up any of their water, whether by sale or lease. <br />Statements by many fanners seem to confinn this hypothesis. Don <br />Christiansen, General Manager of the Central Utah Water Conservancy <br />District (District), described the mindset of a typical central Utah <br />farmer: "To the fanner, he's the most true environmentalist that ever <br />lived. To the fanner, the real 'beneficial use' of water is to grow crops, <br />and if you do something else with the water, obviously you have wasted <br />it. So that is an attitude that farmers have to begin to change."nO A <br />representative of the California Farm Bureau, responding to the <br />contentious water debate in California, still hopes fanners will have the <br />same amount of water, otherwise .we are really going to disrupt the <br />lives of rural Ca!ifornia."11l <br /> <br />3. Public Policy Concerns <br /> <br />fl. <br />r <br /> <br />There are several public policy concerns that may prevent the <br />adoption of water markets. One concern derives from the state water <br />law system of prior appropriation. Perhaps the single greatest <br />normative dilemma facing water markets is the problem of third party <br />effects-<:lownstream users' rights to return flows.l12 Many irrigators <br />use flood irrigation to water their crops, and as much as forty percent <br />of the water seeps back through the ground and returns to the stream. <br />Water in a stream, therefore, may be used by several different fanners. <br />By implementing water conservation techniques to save water, such as <br />drip irrigation, the farmer will reduce the return flow by selling the <br /> <br />;i <br />" <br /> <br />101 Lee Ro88 & Constance Stillinger, Barriers to Conflict Resolution. NEGOTIATION J., Oct. <br />1991, at 389, 392-93; _ also LAX & SEBENlUS, supra note 21, at 57-80. <br />101 LAX &; SEBENIUB, .upro. note 21, at 57. <br />101 Ross &; Stillinger, supra. note 107, at 392-93. <br />110 Interview with Don Christiansen. .upra note 2. <br />111 Forum: Water War (KQED radio broadcast, Apr. 7, 1992) (interview with Mike Henry. <br />Manager of Information Services of the California Farm Bureau) (recording on file with author). <br />112 REISNER &; BATES. ."pro note 10, at 78-79 ("This particular tenet of western water law <br />doctrine is probably the single greatest disincentive to innovstive water conservatio/l and water } <br />transfers, and it has been the subject of increasing criticism.-). <br />~,~ <br /> <br /> <br />:;. <br /> <br />i <br />