How common are water banks? |
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The use of water banks is not widespread in the western U.S., but they have been in use in some locations for
many years. In Idaho, for example, short-term rentals of water date back to the 1930s, with more formal, state-wide procedures
being adopted in 1979. These state-run programs were established for the purpose of acquiring water rights "from willing sellers
for reallocation by sale or lease to other new or existing uses." Since 1979 Idaho's very active water banks have administered transfers
of both storage water and natural flow water rights in amounts exceeding 100,000 acre-feet annually in the 1980s. The state of California established emergency drought water banks in 1991, 1992, and 1994 to assist in the development of a water rental market that could help reduce the unevenly distributed effects of the drought. The water bank handled 820,000 acre-feet of water in 1991, 159,000 in 1992, and 225,000 in 1994 (including surface, groundwater and stored water). The beneficial effects of the 1991 California water bank have been estimated at $104 million. Water banking programs have also been established by the Texas Legislature, and several versions of an interstate water banking program have been developed for the Colorado River basin. In addition to these state-level and interstate programs, small-scale water banking programs can be found elsewhere (for example, in Washington State in the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project and the East Columbia Irrigation District). Indeed, the Oregon Water Resources Department approves between 200 and 300 water transfers annually (the majority being between irrigation diversion points, but some pertaining to instream uses), and the Oregon Water Trust has been buying and renting water rights to protect instream flows in many parts of Oregon for more than a decade. Sources include: Water transfers in the West: efficiency, equity, and the environment" National Research Council, National Academy Press, 1992. Markets for Water: Potential and Performance. K.W. Easter, M.W.Rosegrant, and A. Dinar. Kluwer Academic Publications, 1998. Water Banks in the West.L.J. MacDonell et al. Natural Resources Law Center, University of Colorado School of Law, August 31, 1994. ~
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