Water Markets Archives

Drought driving up water prices

May 28, 2021

• by Lois Henry

If you were looking for some bargain priced water this year, you’re out of luck. “We got out of the market when we started seeing prices north of $900 an acre foot,” said Jason Gianquinto, General Manager of Semitropic Water Storage District in western Kern County. “That’s just too much for us. We had some…

SGMA • State System • Water Markets

The sinking Central Valley town

May 25, 2021

• by Lois Henry

Editor’s note: This article was produced by SJV Water, the Center for Collaborative Investigative Journalism (CCIJ) and the New York Times. The collaboration between SJV Water and CCIJ was led by the Institute for Nonprofit News as part of a project called “Tapped Out: Power, justice and water in the West.” This story was written with funding from the…

Groundwater • Water Markets

Water games: Madera farmers set to test market

January 20, 2021

• by Lois Henry

Madera County farmers are getting ready to play what could be the “game” of their livelihoods. The county groundwater sustainability agency will launch a groundwater market simulation, or game, next month as a way for growers to see if selling and trading their groundwater helps make the most of what will become a severely limited…

Conservation • Groundwater • Water Markets

“Madness and arrogance” blamed for one lawsuit against desert groundwater agency

October 1, 2020

• by Lois Henry

Two lawsuits accusing the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority of ramming through a plan that ignores water rights and, according to one plaintiff, is intended to “destroy agriculture” were filed this week. At issue is a controversial $2,000-per-acre-foot fee approved by the authority last month that would be charged to certain groundwater users over a…

Conservation • Groundwater • Water Markets

Evaporation adds up. How much? Google it – someday

September 17, 2020

• by Lois Henry

There are lots of new water gizmos popping up these days but there’s only one Google. Which makes the massive tech company’s involvement in a proposed water measurement tool both intriguing and slightly suspicious to some agricultural water managers. The same goes for another partner in the effort, the Environmental Defense Fund, a well-known advocacy…

Drought • Groundwater • Uncategorized • Water Markets

Price of water going up as the snowpack shrinks

March 4, 2020

• by Lois Henry

Another block of water has been offered for sale in Kern County at $950 per acre foot. With a dry January and extremely dry February, California’s water outlook has worsened. And that has bumped the price of water for those who have it to sell. Buena Vista Water Storage District on the western edge of…

Uncategorized • Water Markets

It’s all about water markets

April 1, 2019

• by Lois Henry

Almonds take too much water. Wait, alfalfa is the bad guy. What about those water hogging geeks in Silicon Valley? No, no, no — that “evil” fracking is to blame. If it’s a day that ends in “y,” Californians are finding new water guzzling bogeymen to vilify. Meanwhile, economists are quietly shaking their heads. All…