January 19, 2017
WestWater Complete New Study on the Economics of Water Sharing Agreements
WestWater Research recently completed a new study for Environmental Defense Fund on the economics of water sharing agreements between municipal water providers and agricultural water right holders in Colorado. These types of agreements are referred to as Alternative Transfer Mechanisms (ATMs) in Colorado, and state policy goals have advocated for increased use of ATMs in the coming decades to reduce the amount of “buy and dry” occurring on the rapidly growing Colorado Front Range. The study was intended to look at the financial cost of ATM water acquisitions for municipalities as compared to more traditional water supply options, and is one of the first investigations on the economic side of this important issue.