Law Commons^™

The Commerce Clause, Interstate Compacts, And Marketing Water Across State Boundaries., Michael Pease, Olen Paul Matthews

Geography Faculty Scholarship

Increasing competition for scarce water resources should lead to a re-examination of constraints on water reallocation. Some constraints are "spatial" in nature and reduce the areal extent of reallocation processes. Interstate compacts are an example. Proponents of state protectionism look on compacts as a permanent allocation of water between states. A willing seller is not allowed to sell their water to a willing buyer in another state. On the other hand, the U.S. Constitution's Commerce Clause was designed to create an economic union that includes all states and all citizens. State attempts at economic protectionism through export bans are generally …