Evaluation of the water transfer process based on empirical data from four western states

Abstract

Water transfers are increasingly being promoted as a management option for meeting water demand in .the West, yet actual time series data on transfers have never been examined. Information on all water transfers which fall under state jurisdiction and which Involve a change in the purpose and/or place of use of the water right is analyzed for Colorado, from 1975-84, and New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, from 1975-87. The number of transfer applications per year has not escalated. In Colorado and New Mexico, the rate of movement of water from agricultural to non-agricultural uses has not increased. Transfers among non-agricultural uses have risen in Colorado. The latter type of transfer is protested more than an agricultural to non-agricultural transfer. Protests are associated with longer times to process an application. The percentage of transfer applications protested per year has not changed significantly. Colorado has experienced a decrease in the time to process an application.