With streams and rivers drying up because of over-usage, Rob Harmon has implemented an ingenious market mechanism to bring back the water. The idea is simple, give Senior Water Rights holders an “incentive to conserve”. What’s a good incentive? Money. Who has the money? Breweries. Why would a brewery want to purchase water credits? Harmon believes it helps create a positive image of their brand by demonstrating that they are conscious of their water footprint, and besides breweries need a lot of water. Kind of like golf right?
So the idea is that Water Rights Holders can legally protect their Right’s from others, while getting paid to leave a portion of the water in the stream to help fish. Nice.
For instance if a golf course holds a Senior Water Right, then they can sell the water that they don’t use under their entitled Rights. A great incentive to conserve! Now if a golf course is lower down on the Water Rights list they would have financial incentives to conserve because they are put in a position where they have to purchase the left over water rights within their region. An interesting concept.
One final note, in Spain a Holder can sell off their Rights but doesn’t retain their Rights. This has caused the Rights to be in the hands of the buyer with the most $. In many cases this is not a farmer, a cause for concern.
Sent to use by our friends at Turfhugger.com
