Water Policy in Texas: Responding to the Rise of Scarcity / Edition 1

by Ronald C. Griffin

Overview

As a water-scarce state with deep cultural attachments to private property rights, Texas has taken a unique evolutionary path with regard to water management. This new resource surveys past and current challenges for managing both groundwater and surface water, telling a comprehensive story about water policy in Texas, and identifying opportunities for improving future governance. Texas is the U.S. state that has experimented most thoroughly with water markets. In Water Policy in Texas, experts from broad disciplinary perspectives describe and analyze Texas water laws and management agencies, and the practices of water marketing and rate making in Texas. They explore the unique cases of the Edwards and Ogallala aquifers, the science and policy of environmental water stewardship, the extensive history of formalized water sharing with neighboring states and Mexico, and the opportunities for harnessing new technologies that might aid in addressing scarcity. This multidimensional, interdisciplinary book will be a valuable resource for students and researchers of Texas water policy, as well as for water managers worldwide, particularly those working within contexts of water scarcity.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781933115894
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/22/2010
Series:	RFF Press Water Policy Series
Edition description:	1
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Ronald C. Griffin is a professor of water resource economics in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University. He is the author of Water Resource Economics: The Analysis of Scarcity, Policies, and Projects.

Table of Contents

Foreword Larry R. Soward xi

Editor and Contributors xv

Acronyms and Abbreviations xix

1 Experiments in Water Policy Ronald C. Griffin 1

2 Texas Water Resources John B. Ashworth Ric Jenson 8

3 Texas Water Law and Organizations Ronald Kaiser 26

4 Texas Water Marketing and Pricing Ronald C. Griffin 49

5 The Edwards Aquifer: Hydrology, Ecology, History, and Law Todd Haydn Votteler 78

6 The Importance of Freshwater Inflows to Texas Estuaries Paul Montagna Ben Vaughan George Ward 107

7 Water for the Environment: Updating Texas Water Law Mary E. Kelly 128

8 Texas Boundary Water Agreements Kathy Alexander Martin 145

9 Ground Water Depletion in the Texas High Plains David B. Willis Jeffrey W. Johnson 178

10 Advanced Technologies for Tapping Unconventional Texas Waters David Jassby Andrew J. Leidner Yao Xiao Andreas Gondikas Mark R. Wiesner 201

11 Water Management Guidance from Texas Ronald C. Griffin 230

Index 241