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Water Institutional Structure In The Upper Midwest, Douglas Franklin, John R. Powers, Ardelle Lundeen

Economics Research Reports

The upper Great Plains and Mountain States of the United States use a substantial quantity of water. Primary uses are irrigation, domestic, and industrial. The amount of water used is increasing as population grows, as more users exercise water rights, as farmers implement the use of irrigation to reduce risk, and as the states' economies become more diverse. Within the Upper Midwest, there is both geographic and temporal variability of water supply, resulting in various degrees of scarcity relative to the quantities demanded. The allocation method for the available water must be appropriate for these variations.