Historic Water Rights Settlement Marks New Chapter for Agua Caliente Tribe
Last week, the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians entered into a water rights settlement agreement with two local water districts that ends over a decade of litigation regarding Tribal water rights and groundwater management in the Coachella Valley. This historic settlement provides a pathway for cooperative water management on Reservation lands and secures a 20,000 acre-foot water […]
Introducing “The Water Current”
Water is increasingly a topic in the news and tuning into various media outlets is an important piece of keeping current on water policy, management, and conflict. Our team regularly tracks new water stories and shares articles related to the places we work and the services we provide. We hope to share some of these […]
B.F. Sisk Dam expansion represent first approval of a major water storage project in California since 2011
This week, the Department of the Interior and San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority approved plans to enlarge the San Luis Reservoir by 130,000 acre-feet. The additional storage capacity will provide important water supply reliability to California farms, municipalities, and the environment. WestWater, through CDM Smith, served as the lead economics firm for the project […]
Local governments face challenge of rising water costs
Issuers, if they’re not already doing so, will soon have to pay much more to supply water to their constituents, turning to ever more inventive ways of procuring and treating water as fresh water supplies run down. That was the focus of one of the panels at the National Federation of Municipal Analysts’ 2023 Annual […]
Report urging expansion of Texas water markets points to Edwards Aquifer as a ‘robust’ example
WestWater Research is proud to be the water market data provider for this important work from The Nature Conservancy urging the expansion of Texas water markets. Report urging expansion of Texas water markets points to Edwards Aquifer as a ‘robust’ example You can find the full Texas Water Markets Review analysis in the link below. […]
PODCAST: Previewing the Sustainable Water Investment Summit
WestWater Research CEO and founder Clay Landry and Brownstein Shareholder Brad Herrema sit down with Brownstein’s Rebecca Tucker to chat with about key issues in sustainable water investing and what will be covered at next week’s Sustainable Water Investment Summit. Listen to the full episode here. Registration is still open – learn more about SWIS […]
How to evaluate water risk factors
Farmers in the West are facing increased water-related risks as the demand for water increases and the supply is variable or decreasing, according to water expert Darren Fillmore. Fillmore is the agricultural water resource director at WestWater Research, a Boise-based economic consulting firm specializing in water market research, pricing and trading. Competition for reliable water […]
Talking Water Rights Valuations on the Ripple Effect Podcast
Looking to learn more about the water rights valuation process? WestWater’s Harry Seely and Brett Bovee join Clyde Snow’s Emily Lewis on the Ripple Effect podcast to talk about WestWater’s approach to water rights valuations.
To save water in Texas, these nonprofits are paying farmers to leave it in reservoirs
As Texas faces an increasingly fraught environmental future from climate change, a new approach to conservation is growing. Drought conditions have created a two-pronged problem for Texas aquifers, natural bodies of water that move through porous rock underneath the Earth’s surface, and reservoirs. Without rainfall, farmers and ranchers are relying more on those well-established water […]
Proposals to Create Water Banks Would Allow Farmers with Excess Water to Lease it to Those in Need
Proposals to create “water banks” or “water markets” would allow farmers with excess supply to lease it to those in need as drought ravages the American West. The idea is part of a discussion about letting the free market play a bigger role in water conservation as human-caused climate change fuels drought and farmers run […]