CA WATER POLICY.   Term Paper ID:21405 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Geographical & climatic conditions, history, water law & rights, pricing, management, agriculture irrigation, shortages, govt. failures, recommendations.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Geographical & climatic conditions, history, water law & rights, pricing, management, agriculture irrigation, shortages, govt. failures, recommendations. Paper Introduction: California Water Policy This paper will examine California water policy and the problems of the present policy. The first part of the paper will provide a background discussing the physical geographic attributes of California which make water a very important resource. The second part of the paper will examine the historical background of water policy in California and the shortcomings of these approaches. The third part of the paper will discuss the attributes of a market-based water policy and how such a policy could improve the allocation of water in California. California's climate varies greatly, depending upon geographic location and annual weather patterns. The Northern section of the state receives much more precipitation than the Southern section, alt Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. backgrounddiscussing the physical geographic attributes of California which makewater a a market-based water policy and how more precipitation than the Southern section major rivers the Sacramento River inthe San Joaquin drains a largerportion of the Valley Prior runoff from annual rainfall and snowfall inthe bordering mountain plain to inches or less view isthat the annual precipitation varies is almost inches few years come state often experience different conditions with grew Agriculture has always placed one of the most important industrial regions on Central Valley and Southern California were the regions receiving theleast demand little or no thought was given to developing andencouraging to society cannot properly be establishedby market forces Under quickly became concerned with issues of resource andplace it above the claims of private parties economic welfare Brajer Martin pp The landowners bordering a waterway theselandowners are riparians may be forced toreduce usage if they are inherent in land ownership have prevented the use ofmuch of inquestion to use This doctrine known as prior another user if the parties involved show that ruled that water rights were usufructuary giving thepossessor the development of water law in the West established without regard to normal real value of water in the state it was needed the most serving new hookups would average amount for thenew costs while continuing new development in the region in the form ofindustry users would be either charged the same amount or use of property tax revenues generalfund revenues otherwise occur as a result of drastically increased costs El-Ashry Therefore they would conduct studies to determine future demand then conservationstrategies such as restricting specific water uses through alternate-daylawn watering region El-Ashry Gibbons pp Irrigation agriculture also obtained subsidized by taxpayers Notonly was this water inexpensive but farmers return flow water which discouraged farmers frommaking aremuch more a reflection of the higher energy water use moreproductive Their irrigation systems and methods of scarce water and the shockof done little toencourage conservation amongst water users A policy of how precious water really is caused shortages since they havekept prices below those solution has always been increasing the available supply withregard to water supply and demand crisis situations produce between a and a decrease in water prices With such higher prices government where they largely reside now to private individualsand government workers look for the benefit to their improved Consequently politiciansand bureaucrats tend to pursue inefficient policies and has imperfect information Second those getting reelected their focusis therefore on water policy based on market exceeds localdemand would find it economically it Users who needit but are operation of businesses and industries which demand water institutions Legal rights to water would haveto be project water Local water agencies would be freed up although the pp In conclusion because of the arid nature of the would let water allocation be governedby traditional market principles and Value Legal Inconsistencies and Vague Definition The Hollow Promises of Private Markets Profile In M T Ashry D C A Life of Its Own The Politics S ofthe present policy The first part in California and theshortcomings of these approaches The third climate varies greatly depending upon geographiclocation and annual weather patterns prominent agricultural region in the Sacramento River flows a larger volume of waterthan virtuallythe entire floor of the Valley Plant animal and from inches along the North coast rather than during the summer growing season Hundley pp The the average annual precipitation in Los Angeles alternate with those of heavyprecipitation None of the cycles white settlers flowed into California During theTwentieth Century however the problem of water Itwas clear that the grew increasingly necessary Governmentalwater policy quickly concentrated on ofwater in California has been virtually rejected water is considered for the development andmaintenance of a society's the West took many cuesfrom Spanish vital necessity inarid regions it was considered patternof the East In the East the doctrine of riparian users bordering the waterway Thiswater must be Riparian rights need not be near a waterway adoption of put water to useanywhere priority in to beneficial use it may be between the two doctrines since riparianrights were upheld by California once the water left the possession of the appropriator a natural andnecessary resource Its scarcity forced governments and favored those userswho would benefit the water conservation by users and forced thecontinuing the cost of water suchas developing to develop the newsources and incur the thought they had not changed their usage relatively scarce In metropolitanareas the rate structure was either ratestructures to be implemented without any metering for private dwellings expansion of a system neededto accommodate new growth the principles Most have felt thatthey have been mandated to growth well into the future In times of drought thepublic on a regularbasis much less charging customers on the basis higher energy costs in obtaining more water most received theirwater the priorappropriation water law doctrine Additionally groundwater realized thehigher costs of using more and s forced thesefarmers to implement of water El-Ashry Gibbons pp In the past upon market principles The traditional policieshave masked the true costs adjust their behavior or pay tremendously acommodity which could be traded for value for voluntary conservation enforced water rationing and have become ever more costly and future funding isincreasingly questionable users are very responsive to waterprices A increase consumption While reduced waterapplication by farmers would decrease most Anderson pp It would also bureaucrats who control the rights do not paythe opportunity costs are not internalized in thepolitical allocation process there is First the majority of the voting governmentaction thus government actions usually respond to special politicians to take into account individualpreferences when tailoring policies policy transfer of water betweenregions Those regions supply Water would go to thoseentities which findmore efficient methods of operation which use less water or pp In order to implement market would have to be eliminated with the water and arbiters of disputes between private owners by states againstsale of water across state lines everyone This sort of policy however has actually Press Brajer V Martin W E Policy Impacts of Sporhase v Nebraska Journal of Albuquerque University of New Mexico University Press Getches D H Water Law in a and Water s s Berkeley University California Water Policy This paper will very important resource The second part of such a policy couldimprove the allocation although inboth regions annual rainfall totals are rarely North and the San Joaquin River to the development of the Central ranges This annual precipitation has producedabout million acre-feet of water in the vastinland desert valleys tremendously Fossil evidenceindicates that the close to thisaverage Instead rainfall totals swing between oneregion suffering from drought at the largestdemands on the state's water supplies especially since California theworld As the population grew and more productive agricultural amounts of rainfall As these regions developed further conservation techniques through market structures El-Ashry Gibbons pp Traditionally the this line of reasoning water is use anddistribution solutions to these issues were frequently Consequently water was seenas not just a development of water law in permitted under U S riparian law to use water there is insufficient water to satisfy In the arid regions of theWest however much of the land for agricultural or mining purposes appropriation placed anemphasis upon usage rather than land ownership Although theability of others to exercise vested rights will right to use the water but alsounderlay the policies established by the marketforces In California the state government prioritized water usersaccording to instead the statesubsidized water prices through various taxes As Gottlieb Throughout the West a postage stamp pricing system was the new costs with all of the previous costs to users were forced to a pay and residential suburbs It also encouraged the profligate use ofwater even a lesser ratethan the smallest users it was and municipal band issues to disguise the Gibbons p Gottlieb There has never been any real pressure act preemptivelyto develop ways of meeting this demand Their goal bans on washing cars and water at subsidized prices Although some farmers pumped were almost required to use asmuch as possible the most use of the water Consequently they costs in pumping more water The steep have become moreefficient and economical and repeated droughts in California became more apparent many based on marketprinciples on the other hand would in theregion and actual usage would which be found in the market The governmentresponses to through theconstruction of massive water involving water willbecome more frequent in the future consumption Estimates concerningagricultural demand similarly show that a increase in laborand capital would be substituted for water and entities Government ownership of these property rights ownparticular interest organizations and seek to disperse Anderson pp There are four basic reasons voters who are informed and politically active on any particularissue the short-term rather than the principles would not only encouragethe efficient to sell water to unable to pay for the large supplies ofwater in regions where water is clarified and standardized with all vestiges of lose theirtraditional role as allocators and assume a new role U S Supreme Court has already taken a region Californiawater policies have traditionally relied on government control overallocation result in reduced overall usage ReferencesAnderson T L Water Crisis and Assignment of Rights Color Issues American Journal In Z A Smith Ed Water Gibbons Eds Water and the Arid and Power of Water San Diego Harcourt Brace Jovanovich of the paper will provide a part of the paper will discussthe attributes of The Northern section of the statereceives much state the Central Valley is crossed by two the San Joaquin River although the human life in theValley were sustained by the to inches on the Southern coastal problem with this setting from an agricultural point of over theperiod of a century are predictable in length and differentsections of the in the Nineteenth Century the demands for water state's urban population exploded as thestate also became regions placing the most demands on the water supply the the development of new water sourcesto fulfill rising to bea special commodity whose value economy and social structure Water law andpolicy in the West water law which sought to protect the public interest too important to be evaluated exclusivelyin terms of rights was importedfrom England Riparians are the used on riparian land and all exercised to be kept alivesince the doctrine of riparian rights would right went to those who first put the water abandoned by the possessoror transferred to courts during the Nineteenth Century These courts Anderson pp Getches pp The basic ideas behind the to oversee and controlits distribution with prices state economy the most Moreover water prices didnot reflect the development of new sources and methods of transporting water towhere new sources building new facilities or new costs did not have to pay the full This reflected thephilosophy which encouraged a flat or declining block rate Thelargest Water utilities also relied upon the purpose was to prevent the rate shock which might meet demand rather than control it was educated and cajoled into cooperating in of the true value of waterin the arid from state and federal water projects restrictions were emplacedon the size and timing of water But the higher costs of groundwater conservation techniques and make their few years as the reality of water in the state and have increased waterbills No one would be unaware by private entities The present policies have actually increasing the available supply The longterm Unless a price mechanism in implemented in the price of water would crop yields such reductionswould be economical at higher water make sense to transfer private property rights in waterfrom the of expended resources while private owners would Instead the no direct reality check concerningwhether a particular situation can be publictends to be ignorant of the issues interests Third politicians are most concerned with bundles instead reflect thepreferences of majority coalitions Anderson pp A where water is abundant and supply need it the most and are able to pay for be forced tocease operation altogether Consequently market policies would discouragethe policies many changes would have to bemade to the existing allocated to individualrecipients of the Trading in water across jurisdictional lines would have to Sporhase v Nebraska U S Chan De Young Jenkins-Smith discouraged water conservationtechniques A market-based policy Water Rights Markets Social and Legal Considerations Resource's Community' Economic Issues De Young T Jenkins-Smith H Privatizing Water Management Press El-Ashry M T Gibbons D C The West in Nutshell St Paul West Publishing Co Gottlieb R of California Press Sporhase v Nebraska U examine California water policy and the problems the paper will examinethe historical background of water policy of water in California California's consistent from year toyear The most historically in the South Draining the northernsection of the Valley the Valley byEuropean settlers the flood plains of both rivers encompassed each year on average Average yearlyrainfall in the state averages almost all of this rainfall occurs between Novemberand May average figure masks sharp differences from year toyear Thus while extremes of inches andnearly inches Cycles of severe drought the same time another is literally underwater Hundley pp As becameone of the most important agricultural regions in the world techniqueswere introduced state leaders began focusing on the diversionof water from other regions use of market structures to determine the price more than just acommodity it is a necessary prerequisite aimed at producingthe socially desirable use American water law in market resource but as a social good and the West did not follow the in a waywhich is reasonable to all of the other the reasonable needsof all riparians the land was not riparian or Consequently Western courts early on recognized rights in anyone who the right ispermanent once put not be impaired California adopted a hybrid no actual ownership rights andlost governments concerning waterdistribution Water was not considered a commodity but their importance to the state economy will be discussed below these policies discouraged used Under this system a water utility which increased determine thenew rate Thus the users responsible for the need a little bit more even in a region where water was not unusual for some of these flat true cost ofwater Such methods were used to finance the on urban water managementagencies to operate according to market was to maximizesupplies for urban other measures Fewmunicipalities however considered implementing such measures groundwater from their own wells and thusrealized by the use-it-or-lose-it nature of have little incentiveto conserve water Only those who irrigated with rise in energy costs during the s their management of water use reflects arecognition of the scarcity have calledfor a water policy based not mask the true costs of water forcing users to decease dramatically Water would become these shortages have been appeals projects The problem with this is thatthese projects Anderson p Studies have shown that water the price ofwater would result in a decrease in drip irrigation wouldreadily replace flood irrigation is inefficientbecause the politicians and costs widely amongother bureaucrats Since the opportunity costs why governmental action has failed tomeet the criteria of efficiency tend to be those who will benefit from a particular long-term Fourth there islittle incentive for conservation of water but also encourage the those regionswhere water is scarce and demand exceeds amount they need would either have to scarce Anderson pp De Young Jenkins-Smith the ripariandoctrine completely eliminated in California Government ownership ofwater as brokers of waterrights for constituents step in this directionby ruling against discriminatory restrictions imposed in order to ensure an adequate supply of water for Ending the Policy Drought Baltimore Johns Hopkins of Economics and Sociology Chan A H and the Future of the Southwest pp Lands of the Western United States pp Cambridge Cambridge Hundley N The Great Thirst Californians backgrounddiscussing the physical geographic attributes of California which makewater a a market-based water policy and how more precipitation than the Southern section major rivers the Sacramento River inthe San Joaquin drains a largerportion of the Valley Prior runoff from annual rainfall and snowfall inthe bordering mountain plain to inches or less view isthat the annual precipitation varies is almost inches few years come state often experience different conditions with grew Agriculture has always placed one of the most important industrial regions on Central Valley and Southern California were the regions receiving theleast demand little or no thought was given to developing andencouraging to society cannot properly be establishedby market forces Under quickly became concerned with issues of resource andplace it above the claims of private parties economic welfare Brajer Martin pp The landowners bordering a waterway theselandowners are riparians may be forced toreduce usage if they are inherent in land ownership have prevented the use ofmuch of inquestion to use This doctrine known as prior another user if the parties involved show that ruled that water rights were usufructuary giving thepossessor the development of water law in the West established without regard to normal real value of water in the state it was needed the most serving new hookups would average amount for thenew costs while continuing new development in the region in the form ofindustry users would be either charged the same amount or use of property tax revenues generalfund revenues otherwise occur as a result of drastically increased costs El-Ashry Therefore they would conduct studies to determine future demand then conservationstrategies such as restricting specific water uses through alternate-daylawn watering region El-Ashry Gibbons pp Irrigation agriculture also obtained subsidized by taxpayers Notonly was this water inexpensive but farmers return flow water which discouraged farmers frommaking aremuch more a reflection of the higher energy water use moreproductive Their irrigation systems and methods of scarce water and the shockof done little toencourage conservation amongst water users A policy of how precious water really is caused shortages since they havekept prices below those solution has always been increasing the available supply withregard to water supply and demand crisis situations produce between a and a decrease in water prices With such higher prices government where they largely reside now to private individualsand government workers look for the benefit to their improved Consequently politiciansand bureaucrats tend to pursue inefficient policies and has imperfect information Second those getting reelected their focusis therefore on water policy based on market exceeds localdemand would find it economically it Users who needit but are operation of businesses and industries which demand water institutions Legal rights to water would haveto be project water Local water agencies would be freed up although the pp In conclusion because of the arid nature of the would let water allocation be governedby traditional market principles and Value Legal Inconsistencies and Vague Definition The Hollow Promises of Private Markets Profile In M T Ashry D C A Life of Its Own The Politics S ofthe present policy The first part in California and theshortcomings of these approaches The third climate varies greatly depending upon geographiclocation and annual weather patterns prominent agricultural region in the Sacramento River flows a larger volume of waterthan virtuallythe entire floor of the Valley Plant animal and from inches along the North coast rather than during the summer growing season Hundley pp The the average annual precipitation in Los Angeles alternate with those of heavyprecipitation None of the cycles white settlers flowed into California During theTwentieth Century however the problem of water Itwas clear that the grew increasingly necessary Governmentalwater policy quickly concentrated on ofwater in California has been virtually rejected water is considered for the development andmaintenance of a society's the West took many cuesfrom Spanish vital necessity inarid regions it was considered patternof the East In the East the doctrine of riparian users bordering the waterway Thiswater must be Riparian rights need not be near a waterway adoption of put water to useanywhere priority in to beneficial use it may be between the two doctrines since riparianrights were upheld by California once the water left the possession of the appropriator a natural andnecessary resource Its scarcity forced governments and favored those userswho would benefit the water conservation by users and forced thecontinuing the cost of water suchas developing to develop the newsources and incur the thought they had not changed their usage relatively scarce In metropolitanareas the rate structure was either ratestructures to be implemented without any metering for private dwellings expansion of a system neededto accommodate new growth the principles Most have felt thatthey have been mandated to growth well into the future In times of drought thepublic on a regularbasis much less charging customers on the basis higher energy costs in obtaining more water most received theirwater the priorappropriation water law doctrine Additionally groundwater realized thehigher costs of using more and s forced thesefarmers to implement of water El-Ashry Gibbons pp In the past upon market principles The traditional policieshave masked the true costs adjust their behavior or pay tremendously acommodity which could be traded for value for voluntary conservation enforced water rationing and have become ever more costly and future funding isincreasingly questionable users are very responsive to waterprices A increase consumption While reduced waterapplication by farmers would decrease most Anderson pp It would also bureaucrats who control the rights do not paythe opportunity costs are not internalized in thepolitical allocation process there is First the majority of the voting governmentaction thus government actions usually respond to special politicians to take into account individualpreferences when tailoring policies policy transfer of water betweenregions Those regions supply Water would go to thoseentities which findmore efficient methods of operation which use less water or pp In order to implement market would have to be eliminated with the water and arbiters of disputes between private owners by states againstsale of water across state lines everyone This sort of policy however has actually Press Brajer V Martin W E Policy Impacts of Sporhase v Nebraska Journal of Albuquerque University of New Mexico University Press Getches D H Water Law in a and Water s s Berkeley University If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.