The state's ecology department regularly denies water transfers from farms to cities, even though burgeoning cities need the water and are willing to pay for it. We can avert the impending water crisis only if we regard water as we do all other finite natural resources like lumber, coal and natural gas - as private property. Establishing property rights in water would create a market for water, with its use going to the people who value it most. By linking water owners' welfare to water's market value, inefficient usage will decline as it becomes financially impractical. Billions of gallons of water could be purchased by cities at a price set in the marketplace.
Water shortages are in nobody's best interest.
Establishing property rights in water could ensure a future where everyone's water needs are met. Alex Herrgott is a research associate in the Washington D.C., office of the Dallas Based National Center for Policy Analysis. A native of Phoenix, Herrgott is a graduate of Brophy College Preparatory and former intern to Arizona State Sen. John McCain. He attends George Washington University. We depend entirely on the financial support of individuals, corporations and foundations that believe in private sector solutions to public policy problems.