Laserfiche WebLink
<br />Water markets can mean an end to water shortages <br /> <br />Page 16 of27 <br /> <br />on the project, the consortium sold the ranch <br />for $13 million. But the story does not end <br />there. The ranch's new owner, Gary Boyce, is <br />considering selling surface water rights, <br />estimated at more than 50,000 acre-feet, <br />downstream (Steinhart 1990, 40). <br /> <br />"Increasingly, water is finding new owners," writes <br />Steinhart (1990, 44). "A study by researchers at the <br />University of Arizona found that in the last twelve <br />years there were about 6,000 transactions in Utah, <br />1,455 in New Mexico, 1,500 in Colorado." <br /> <br />For the Fish <br /> <br />Because western water rights evolved to allow <br />diversion for mining and agriculture, instream flows <br />suffered in many places. Throughout the West, it is <br />common to see dry streambeds adjacent to lush <br />green irrigated fields. Until recently, the only option <br />to restore water has been to go to court using the <br />public trust doctrine or to the legislature seeking <br />minimum stream flows. Now, however, some <br />entrepreneurs are making the environmental <br />benefits of water marketing more visible. <br /> <br />. The Oregon Water Trust, which leased a <br />rancher's water rights on Buck Hollow Creek <br />in Oregon, is expanding its reach. The trust <br />hopes to negotiate at least 20 agreements each <br />year, including several long-term leases and <br />outright purchases. According to rancher <br />Rocky Webb, "By working with the Oregon <br />Water Trust, I can protect a stream I care a lot <br />about and continue to raise cattle and make a <br />living here like my family has for <br />years" (Middaugh 1995). <br />. The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has <br />been negotiating to keep water in the <br />Columbia River basin streams to protect <br />salmon and steelhead. In 1993, EDF's Zach <br />Willey engineered a three-year lease option <br />between the Bonneville Power <br />Administration (BP A) and Skyline Farms of <br />Ontario, Oregon. The BP A was granted the <br />option to lease up to 16,000 acre-feet of water <br />from Skyline for instream use (Middaugh <br />1995). In 1996, EDF negotiated a transfer of <br />irrigation water rights from farmers in the <br />Yakima River Basin and the BP A to instream <br />flows in the Teanaway River (EDF Letter <br /> <br />http://www. perc.org/publications/policyseries/priming_ full. php ?8=2 <br /> <br />9/12/2006 <br />