More Water as a CropTM Case Studies:
Cheney Lake Watershed: Farming Water Quality in Kansas
Colorado River Water Bank: Making Water Conservation Profitable
Flint River Basin Irrigation: Wireless Water for Biodiversity
By Reed Watson
and Brandon Scarborough
Three Columbia River fish species have been enlisted as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Millions of dollars have been invested by government agencies, boards and conservation groups in an attempt to boost fish populations, but they have failed.
The Habitat Farming Enterprise Program may have a chance at accomplishing what the others could not. Fruit trees planted close to spawning fish have badly degraded the fish habitat. Replacing the fruit trees with a vegetative buffer zone could lower water temperatures and improve spawning habitat, leading to increased fish populations. Compensating the orchardists for these improvements and their lost income from reduced production could be accomplished in several ways. State licensing for fishing, payments from hydropower plants that kill 2 percent of the fish passing through their projects, and donors will to pay for "existence value."
Founded 30 years ago in Bozeman, Montana, PERC—the Property and Environment Research Center—is the nation’s oldest and largest institute dedicated to improving environmental quality through property rights and markets.
PERC’s publications, each designed to resonate with specific groups, move ideas generated at PERC to broader audiences.
Research is at the heart of PERC's work, with a focus on the question: What is the link between economic growth and environmental quality?
The goal of PERC’s programs is to fully realize the vision of establishing “PERC University,” where scholars, students, policy makers, and others convene to expand the applications of free market environmentalism.
PERC's fellowships share a common goal of exposing new scholars, students, journalists, and policy makers to free market environmentalism, as well as enable scholars already familiar with FME to explore new applications.
PERC continues to publish and present a broad range of research and discussion through podcasts, videos, and other multimedia channels.