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<br />\!"; <br />l.") <br />(..... ; <br />N <br /> <br />'~':':') <br /> <br />c <br /> <br />" <br /> <br />180 <br /> <br />J, ENERGY, NAT. RESOUlt\J~:=;, &: u~ V 11.<. 1.<. I Y v.. ~v <br /> <br />) <br /> <br />Additionally, there are still other public policy concerns about <br />water marketing, House Interior Committee Chainnan George Miller <br />is concerned that all the water would flow to the richest cities and that <br />the West "would end up with a lot oflittle oases and a lot of brown <br />areas in between,nl20 Such fears have become a genuine problem as <br />a result of large-scale purchases by Phoenix-area municipalities from <br />farmers in rural Arizona, and by the cities of Denver and Colorado <br />Springs from fanners in the Arkansas River VaUey.l2l Manyenviron- <br />mentalists oppose water marketing unless it is coupled with environ- <br />mental protections,122 The opposition to purely voluntary water <br />markets exists for the same reasons we control and limit our free <br />market economy; that is, people simply do not completely trust the <br />power of money to make wise resource allocations.lO" <br /> <br />c. Two Recent Examples of Water Market Barriers <br /> <br />" <br /> <br />While institutional barriers effectively prevent leadership and <br />innovation from the governmental entities that control water allocation, <br />psychological and social predispositions serve to stifle reform at the local <br />level. These two forces combine to perpetuate the status quo. This <br />inertia has frustrated, both historically and recently, numerous <br />attempts at water allocation reform. While simply eliminating outdated <br />water laws and implementing a system of water markets appears <br />attractive, two recent attempts to develop water markets demonstrate <br />the strength of these hidden barriers. <br />In 1987 Oregon enacted a law to provide for the sale or lease of <br />conserved water.'" The law defines conserved water as "that amount <br />of water, previously unavailable to subsequent appropriators, that <br /> <br />, <br /> <br />f. <br />~ <br /> <br /> <br />repayment obligor-to be held in trust and used for the benefit of the preaent project <br />community" Joseph L, Sax, Selli"8 Reclamation Water Rij{hu: A C_ Study in Federal <br />Sub.idy Policy, 64 MICH. L. REV. 13, 39 (1965). <br />120 Mosher, .upro note 38, at 20 (quoting Rep. George Miller). <br />121 Mark Reisner, Kept from Selling Water, Far'fTU!'" Naturally Waste It, L.A.. TIldES, Feb. 28, <br />1991, at B7. <br />112 Forum: Water War, .upro note 109 (interview with David Behar.. Bay Institute). <br />Ironically. the concept of developing a free market for water was promoted by environmentaliatl <br />during the 1980B as a way to appeal to Reagan conservatives while strengthening environmen- <br />tal protection. Gottlieb & Wiley, supra note 6. <br />12. See Peter S. Menell, r",titutiorwl FantMyland8: From Scientitk Ma1llJjfement to ~, <br />Market Enuironmentalillm, 15 HARV. J,L. & PUB. PQL'Y 489,49<> (1992). ' <br />12' OR. REV. STAT. U 537.455-.500 (1991). ;i <br /> <br />~J <br />'~ <br />)~ <br />,'~ <br />;i <br />'~ <br />, <br />~ <br />~ <br />