PERC Reports

The magazine of Free Market environmentalism

Volume 41, No.2, Winter 2022

In the American West, the response to drought has historically been to divert more water, build dams, or pump groundwater. But many of those options are no longer politically or economically feasible. To adapt, western communities are going to have to find ways to do more with less water—and to do so through cooperation instead of conflict. This special issue of PERC Reports explores the West's water crisis and how markets can address today's shortages.

IN THIS ISSUE

Shawn Regan

Down to the Last Drop

Can the West adapt to its even drier future?

Tate Watkins

Pay a Farmer, Save the Colorado?

Agriculture uses the vast majority of water in the arid West. Shouldn’t there be simple ways to trade the valuable resource?

Leslie Sanchez

How Federal Laws Undermine Native American Water Rights

Tribes could help bridge gaps between water supply and demand in the Colorado River Basin—if it weren’t for federal restrictions

Andrew B. Ayres

The Water Beneath the Desert

A groundwater market in the Mojave Desert offers lessons for California and beyond

Tim Hawkes

Trout Water

A firsthand account of the legislative quest to reform Utah water law and allow conservationists to protect fish and wildlife habitat

Jonathan Wood

Clear As Mud

A half-century after the Clean Water Act was enacted, there's still no clear answer as to what it regulates. A new Supreme Court case may finally provide some clarity.