by Water Scarcity: A Growing Global Challenge
It is no secret that freshwater resources around the world are under increasing stress. Population growth, urbanization, industrialization and climate change are exacerbating water scarcity in many regions. The UN estimates that by 2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world population could be under water-stressed conditions. Some predictions indicate that droughts may also become more frequent and severe due to global warming. With demand for water expected to outpace supply significantly in the coming decades, traditional supply-side solutions alone will not be sufficient to bridge the widening gap between supply and demand. New approaches that focus on reallocating and trading existing water supplies in a sustainable manner are gaining prominence.
Emergence of Water Rights as a Market-based Solution
One such approach that is emerging globally is water rights. By allowing water rights to be separated from land ownership through formal water markets, water can be reallocated from lower-value to higher-value uses through trading. Proponents argue that well-regulated Water Trading markets provide economic incentives and flexibility for water to move to its most productive uses. They also enable scarce water supplies to be used more efficiently. Over the past few decades, several countries and regions have introduced some form of water trading as a means to reallocate water between agricultural, industrial, urban and environmental uses. Australia, Chile, the western US states, some Canadian provinces and parts of Europe are front-runners in establishing water markets. However, setting up effective and equitable water rights requires overcoming several economic, social and technical challenges.
Key Considerations in Establishing Water Markets
One of the critical requirements for water markets to work is clearly defining existing water rights and entitlements. This includes quantifying rights, specifying conditions for trading as well as processes for adjudicating disputes. Environmental and community interests also need protecting through allocation of sufficient environmental flows and provision of community service obligations. Market power imbalances between large corporate buyers and small farmers need addressing, for example through restricting trade volumes that a single party can accrue. Physical conveyance infrastructure is another prerequisite, as is establishment of statutory water registries to record trades. Pricing water appropriately also entails factoring in both consumptive and non-consumptive values as well as opportunity costs of foregoing other productive uses. Overall, strong regulatory oversight, transparent rules and community participation are essential features of successful water trading regimes.
Lessons from Mature Water Markets
The Murray-Darling Basin in eastern Australia is one of the most active water markets globally, trading over AUD 3 billion worth of entitlements annually. Some key lessons are: holding a mix of temporary and permanent water rights provides flexibility; uncoupling of water from land enables it to move more responsively to alternative uses; price signals encourage water use efficiency; and adaptive regulations have facilitated market deepening over time. Chile too has a reasonably mature system concentrating on seasonal leasing of water between mining, agriculture and municipalities. Robust hydrometeorological data and ease of trades online have aided Chile’s water markets. In contrast, the Colorado River Basin market in the western US has seen limited activity due to fragmented water rights definitions, lack of regulatory coordination across states and an overemphasis on short-term leasing over permanent transfers.
Prospects and Challenges for India
With varying degrees of water scarcity across many parts of the country, the potential for Water Trading between sectors, regions and over time exists in India too. However, current legal and implementation frameworks are inadequate. The National Water Policy 2012 advocates water markets but existing laws make inter-state, inter-basin and inter-sectoral trades difficult. Lack of hydrological data, unified water rights definitions and irrigation sector inefficiencies also pose challenges. Suitable regulatory mechanisms and addressing distributional impacts will be crucial if India implements water trading on a large scale. Pilot initiatives in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh provide useful lessons but considerable groundwork is still needed to establish efficient national and inter-state water markets suited to India’s federal structure and socio-economic diversity.
Water scarcity poses enormous economic and environmental risks worldwide which traditional supply management alone cannot overcome. Emerging evidence indicates water rights mechanisms are a viable, market-based approach to help address scarcity, provided well-designed regulatory frameworks guide trading. Successful examples demonstrate some key design principles: clear water entitlement definitions, minimal transaction costs, provision of community safeguards and adaptability in policies. However, each region and country needs context-specific market models reflecting local hydrological, legal and socio-economic complexities. With careful planning and piloting, water rights holds promise as a supplemental tool for India to better manage its scarce water resources too.
