I’ve started working on my first project in the Eastern Snake River Plains and immediately made three observations I felt inclined to share:
I even splurged for an airport shoeshine on my way.
I’m on a 10-day California journey that will culminate with a water rights presentation at the National Mitigation and Ecosystem Banking Conference. The take home message for the presentation is this:
water rights will play a critical role in ecosystem service markets of the West, so understanding and managing these assets should remain a top priority.
This previous post expands on this vision and role of water rights in these ecosystem service markets. I hope to see you there or along the way. Safe travels.
I wanted to share with you a recent NewWest.net article that focuses on Lotic’s view of water rights as assets and our pursuit of unique opportunities in the emerging water market. If you missed the hyper link above, here is the link again for good measure. I’d also like to thank Kylee Perez for her interest in this topic.
I’ve decided to feature pertinent water tweets from the previous 7 days, nearly every Sunday. So you have that to look forward to. If you like what you see and would rather hear it live, you can follow me @loticwater. Also, if you have great “tweet worthy” ideas, concepts, articles, etc., please share.
Water entrepreneurs and opportunities: http://nyti.ms/gsmZOe
Water values and electricity: http://bit.ly/hwCOwU
Another water footprint calculator: http://on.natgeo.com/ekaV1r
Environmental Defense: “Markets are excellent at allocating scarce resources” like water -http://on.ft.com/fQ9duR
Hidden assets associated with land – Wind & Water rights. http://tiny.cc/ho3c4#realestate
Launched my boycott of World Water Dayhttp://lnkd.in/zc2WDr
Clearly defined rights and absolute ownership would solve most water problems.
USACE mitigation banking timeline is over 225 days. add the applicant’s side, it is no wonder 2 years is typical.
It’s raining in tucson. I hope to have my first surface water spotting in the morning.
Senate could settle decades-old debate on landowners’ water rights http://t.co/Fv3cNXe
Call for CAP on dam storage in Austrailia. http://bit.ly/gjCogt
I have received approval to teach a mandatory 4- credit class to real estate professionals in Montana. This is in addition to the 2- credit class I offered last year and will continue to offer this year. I’ve included an e-flyer for this class below. If you have questions or would like additional information, please email info@loticwater.com.
With two days remaining for 2011 Enviropreneur Institute application deadline, I wanted to share my Enviropreneur Snapshot from the PERC reports, Winter 2011. In this article, I describe the importance of water rights in the changing landscape of the West, and how Lotic is positioning itself in this emerging market.
Is this an efficient use of water? Depends.
This is a reoccurring coffee shop conversation, so I thought I’d bring it to the web. I’ve previously discussed efficiency projects in terms of marketing and consumptive use. Today, I wanted to focus on flood irrigation. Flood irrigation (depicted above) has long been hailed as an inefficient use of water. In my mind, this stereotype of flood irrigation inefficiency is subject to the management objectives.
This stereotype is true in terms of:
This stereotype is not true in terms of:
Yes, what I’m saying is if your objectives are to recharge the aquifer and increase return flows at a higher profit margin, then flood irrigation might not be so inefficient after all.
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This post spurred discussion, references, and links, so I thought it deserved a follow-up.
John Fleck lists some great sources in his FLOOD IRRIGATION blog post.
Dustin Garrick shared this great article on enviromental markets and efficiency in Australia.
And, of course, David Zetland of Aguanomics has touched on this irrigation efficiency conundrum and will return to the topic this coming Friday.
I specialize in western water markets. Even so, I am currently working on a project in 9 eastern states. This project has made me realize the eastern United States will face some serious water challenges. This isn’t the first time I’ve made this observation; it has just become that obvious to me. And, here’s four reason’s why:
1. The wrong doctrine. The west’s prior appropriation doctrine receives plenty of criticism, but one thing it does successfully is allocate a private property right to water, regardless of land ownership. Attaching water to adjacent lands and allocating a reasonable use–as does the riparian doctrine–is the foundation for failure. For example, what is reasonable use? How can you transfer water where it is needed most? Who is using water and who is not? How much water is being use? Etc.
2. No Measurement. This isn’t only a problem in the east; the west needs to make great strides in measuring water use. However, in many cases the east will allocate groundwater permits under “regulated riparianism” with no measurement requirements or tracking. Some eastern states don’t even require a permit for groundwater use. Sound good? NO.
3. Planning doesn’t solve market problems. Dwight Eisenhower said it best: “In preparing for battle, I’ve always found plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” Rather than being market driven, the east appears to be large-scale water planning oriented. Planning is good, but in my experience, plans don’t solve the local supply and demand challenges or allocate resources efficiently. Markets do.
4. Lack of clearly defined water rights. This plays on #1, #2, and #3 but it is the biggie, so I saved it for last. If the east, west, north, and south don’t clearly define rights to water, we are all in trouble. As with land, clearly defining these assets will allow for markets to trade these resources efficiently. And, yes these markets will bubble, and yes these markets will burst, and yes these markets will lead to creativity, innovation, and solutions that didn’t exist previously.
I just wanted to say thanks to the Property and Environment Research Center for the opportunity to tell my story of starting Lotic, and my vision for utilizing water markets to Turn Blue into Green. If you have an Enviropreneur vision, I, once again, encourage you to submit your application.
In 2010, I had the fortunate opportunity to deliver 22 presentations on water rights and water marketing. I’ve already received multiple requests to keep this streak alive in the new year. For this reason, I decided to post my speaking resume and bio below. Also, this link provides presentation information and examples highlighted in previous blog posts. Please don’t hesitate to contact me at chris@loticwater.com with questions and inquiries.
