Water Crisis: Ending the Policy Drought

by Terry L. Anderson
Foreword by Marion Clawson

The Wall Street Journal calls it "the issue of the '80's." Newsweek warns of "the browning of America." From the Peripheral Canal in California to synfuel plants in the Rockies to sinkholes in Florida, the approaching water crisis is increasingly on the nation's mind. Terry Anderson, a natural resource economist at Montana State University, offers a unique and informative perspective on the issue that could be bigger than the energy crisis. Early settlers in the West established an efficient property rights system for allocating water. But when competition developed for water, property rights were overturned as water users turned to the government for guaranteed access. The costs and benefits of water use were separated, and demand increased faster than supply. Today these problems are growing more severe, and political conflict over water is increasing. Anderson explains how we got to our current predicament and describes how a new set of market-oriented institutions could head off the water crisis and reduce political conflicts.

This book is an excellent survey of the political economy of water and a valuable introduction to the new resource economics.

"This is an outstanding book encompassing ideas that will make a real difference in the study of water policy. It is a real winner."
-Richard L. Stroup
Department of the Interior

1983/121pp./$2.00 paper ISBN 0-932790-38-0

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