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Wto Recourse For Reclamation Irrigation Subsidies: Undermarket Water Prices As Foregone Revenue, Paul Stanton Kibel

Publications

There are competing demands for fresh water. Farms look to it as an irrigation source, cities rely on it for drinking water, and fisheries (and fishermen) depend on it for instream flow. When the United States Bureau of Reclamation (“Reclamation”) subsidizes the costs of providing fresh water for irrigation in agricultural production, such subsidization can result in tiered water pricing. With tiered pricing, farms pay the government less per unit than other water users. This tiered pricing can distort the water marketplace in a manner that encourages wasteful irrigation practices and leaves insufficient water instream for fisheries. The dispute over …