Water Policy 8 (2006) 255-268

Water transfers in El Paso County, Texas

Thomas M. Fullerton

Department of Economics and Finance, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, 79968-0543, USA, Tel: +1-915-747-7747., Fax: +1-915-747-6282, tomf@utep.edu

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.

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