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Lessons from the Development of Western Water Law for Emerging Water Markets: Common Law vs. Central PlanningBy Andrew P. Morriss Abstract This article examines the development of water law in the West and suggests reliance on a common law rather than a central planning, regulatory regime. Part One describes the common law water rights system and its development in the West. Part Two surveys how courts in Montana and Wyoming dealt with water law issues in the nineteenth century. Part Three traces the development and spread of the “Wyoming System” of central planning for water. Part Four compares the common law and central planning as devices for allocating water. Part Five concludes by drawing lessons for modern water markets and other areas of environmental policy and for the development of water markets from the common law experience with water rights. |
" I can see several stories in the next year spinning out of some of the things I heard (at PERC)."
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