Water as a commodity

[fishing_guy]

As I have been watching the news these past couple of weeks, I have noticed an uptick in the coverage of so-called experts who are chanting the mantra of water as a commodity. 
A couple of questions as I live in a (relatively) water rich state of Minnesota.  We have 10,000 lakes, including shoreline of Superior, the headwaters of the Mississippi and not much of a problem here.
1.  Is this the next get rich bubble?  It just seems there is money floating around on these get rich schemes, rather than investing in companies which actually produce something.
2.  At what point does the government step in and regulate, similar to the power companies?
3.  At what point do we lose the rights, as landowners, to the water that is above, on and below our land?

I realize that to provide water to metro areas is expensive, especially clean, relatively pure water.  But I fear this would extend to much more than metro areas, similar to what the USDA is trying with food.

[ScottA]

Here's the part you need to understand for it all to make sense. There are people in this world who belive they own everything by divine right. All the water, all the land, the air, the food even the people. It sounds crazy but it's true. So for them to make rain into a product that someone owns before it hits the ground is a simple extension of this thinking. It's no different then the co2 tax they are trying to push so they can make you pay for breathing. In some states it is illegal to capture rain water from your own roof so this is nothing new.

[Redoverfarm]

Although some may have more insight than I but I believe this is already happening in the western states.

[peternap]

Although some may have more insight than I but I believe this is already happening in the western states.

I thought so too John. Speaking of water, looks like you may see some snow tomorrow.

[Redoverfarm]

Predictions Peter is 3-6" in the higher elevations.  Snowshoe had about 1" today of wet snow but they are almost a mile high.  I guess it's that time of the year. 

[MountainDon]

I believe this is already happening in the western states.

Not so much "already" happening, rather has been happening for a very very long time. There are longstanding treaties that divide up the flows of the rivers. The Rio Grande that flows from northern NM must deliver a certain amount of water to downstream TX. Ditto the Colorado river, except there are 7 states involved.

BTW, you know the Colorado river simply stops flowing in the desert. It peters out and no longer reaches the Gulf of California.

[rick91351]

In the middle of one of the west's drought years, Idaho Power which depends heavily on hydo looked around and wondered 'where is all our water?' DAHHH!! It never occurred to them it has not rained or snowed hardly for like a year and a half.  So they filed a lawsuit that began what was known as the Snake River Adjudication.  http://www.idwr.idaho.gov/WaterManagement/AdjudicationBureau/default.htm  Many land owners were forced to refile claims for irrigation water and springs for livestock usage that had been filed on fifty, sixty to a hundred years ago AND PROVE they were the rightful users.  To hear this great public utility we all were guilty of robbing water from the holy IDAHO POWER.

So Idaho Water Resources got very busy.  The fees for refiling were if I remember $25 per spring, pond and $50 for a creek.  You had to prove prior use of the water ie ditches, spring boxes, stock watering tanks, piping, irrigation holding tanks, ponds and such.  Top it off if I remember right nothing could be filed on in this adjudication for domestic water.  For many who could hardly afford it; pay the man or loose your water rights to streams and creeks and springs that had been tapped and used in most cases before there was a greedy power utility.  I am afraid that we may all receive such a wake up call one of these days.  Many are convinced the battle is going to be for oil.  I really disagree - water is paramount.  Water is life, without water there is no life, oil then becomes a useless commodity.    

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

I believe it is Washington state that has the rainwater collection tax.... ridiculous.  The state probably owns the sunshine there too.

[fishing_guy]

I believe it is Washington state that has the rainwater collection tax.... ridiculous.  The state probably owns the sunshine there too.

Not enough sunshine there to tax...but plenty of rain...lol

[waggin]

I believe it is Washington state that has the rainwater collection tax.... ridiculous.  The state probably owns the sunshine there too.

Not enough sunshine there to tax...but plenty of rain...lol

We get lots of sunshine here in the Pacific NW; some of it just happens to be in liquid form.     Haven't heard about the rainwater collection tax, but I have heard that water rights do NOT allow you to harvest rainwater, say from your roof, as it interferes with someone else's right to that water once it perks into the ground.  Ok, technically that is the law, but I haven't heard of it ever being enforced.  If you look closely, I bet that is the same nationwide.

Seriously though, the whole water as a commodity has been going on in third world countries for a long time.  Private corporations (some of these are US corporations) have obtained water rights and charge ludicrous amounts for water, even for households.  Generally it starts with a loan from the IMF that the IMF never expects the borrowing country to be able to repay.  Conditions included in the loan are required steps if the loan is defaulted upon.  Once in default, the IMF basically requires the country to "sell" their water rights in order to make payments on the loan.  Often, a corrupt government contracts for the loan, takes the money, then the citizens end up paying ruinous prices for minimal amounts of water.  As municipalities continue to spend more than they take in via tax revenue, watch for more of this kind of stuff here in the US.

http://www.waternunc.com/gb/ProblemofWater.htm

For more on this, just Google "IMF water privatization"; you'll get lots of hits.

Another issue I forsee is dealing with situations where there is more in total granted water rights than the amount of available water.  Life is going to get really interesting when people start looking into the cost of a desalinization plant in California and a pipeline to supply water to the inland, desert SW part of the country.  Gotta keep those Arizona golf courses green!