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Foreword -- Acknowledgments -- Acronyms -- 1. Overview -- 2. Prerequisites for successful water markets -- 3. The legal foundations -- 4. Water markets in the United States -- 5. Water markets in international perspective -- Bibliography.

This volume summarizes the practice of using water markets to improve the efficiency of water use. The water sector is in a state of transition. In the past, water was regarded as public property, to be developed and operated by government agencies. It is now recognized that governments may make the greatest contribution not in building and operating public works but rather in creating the framework and the mechanisms that enable people and markets to use water more efficiently. Following an overview, chapter 2 suggests that one of the keys to sustainable use of water is to educate leaders and the general population about the value and vulnerability of our limited water resources. In addition, a strong legal and institutional framework is needed to support the wise administration and management of water resources. Chapter 3 presents the legal and institutional frameworks used to managed water resources in the Western Hemisphere by comparing the successes and pitfalls of these systems. Chapter 4 examines the legal and institutional frameworks and market concepts within the states of Colorado and California in the United States. The comparisons show the difference in approaches between the mature, judicially regulated market system in Colorado, and the more recent administratively regulated markets of California. Chapter 5 examines the legal and institutional frameworks evolving in the Canary Islands, and in Chile, Brazil, and Mexico by comparing some of the difficulti.