How could a market approach negatively impact our towns and communities?
Water markets would force small towns to bid on water every time they desire to expand, and they will not be able to compete against larger users with deeper pockets. Under this scenario, the towns will either lose money trying to secure more water, or they will pass the higher cost of water onto their customers. Here is how it would work: a permit holder who has the right to withdraw water for a pulp mill, or for crop irrigation, may decide that his current business is no longer viable, and he must determine what to do with its assets. If, under the market system, the water withdrawal permit is treated as property, instead of as a mechanism for the environmental protection of the resource, it becomes another asset for disposal to the highest bidders (which will not be the small towns). This would result in separating the right to use the water from the land lying next to the water source and allowing it to be sold elsewhere. In the long run, this will end the tradition of riparian rig
