The United Nations recently declared access to clean drinking water and sanitation a basic human right. The measure, while non-binding, could pave the way for greater governmental control over water, most likely in the form of subsidized water projects, below cost rate structures, and political allocation of water rights. As Bruce Pardy (PERC Julian Simon Fellow) notes in today's Financial Post, putting our most precious resource under political control may only exacerbate the problem.
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Brandon Scarborough is a research fellow at PERC currently focused on the use of water markets in the West to restore stream flows for wildlife, fish and other environmental amenities. He is just completing another project on carbon sequestration and the efficacy of using forest management to address climate change. His other interests include...
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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.
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