Title
Water transfers in El Paso County, Texas
Publication Date
6-22-2006
Publication Name
Water Policy
Volume
8
Issue
3
First Page
255
Last Page
268
Source Full Text URL
https://doi.org/10.2166/wp.2006.031
Document Type
Article
DOI
10.2166/wp.2006.031
Abstract
Water rights transfers for surface water have taken place in El Paso County in far west Texas for many decades. Historically, these exchanges have primarily occurred between agricultural water users. In recent decades, there have also been transfers from agricultural uses to urban uses. Ongoing commercial and demographic expansion in the El Paso metropolitan economy increases the likelihood of additional farm-to-municipal transfers in future years. Although legal mechanisms have periodically been introduced to allow these exchanges to occur, pricing has not played a central role in the process. At present, transfers of surface water rights in El Paso County occur under fairly rigid conditions. © IWA Publishing 2006.