Enabling Smart Water Markets |1 A Better Way to Water Trade ? 2017 AQUAOSO Technologies Patent Pending AQUAOSO would like to thank Peter Beland, the primary author, and the interviewees for their generous contributions. Water Scarcity… The New Norm We live in a world of 21 st Century Climate with a 20Century th Infrastructure and 19Century Laws and Policies th water scarcity. Assuming business as usual, “By 2030, humanity’s annual global water requirements will exceed current sustainable water supplies by 40 3 Water rights in the West are based in 19century law, where th those with older, or more “senior,” water rights are ?rst in line to use water in a given area. This system encourages users to pump their full water allocation each year no matter what, or they could lose their place in line, causing billions of gallons to be wasted every year. Though some take advantage of temporary water transfers, many simply keep the pump running. percent.” Food production 1 needs, increased urban Water is local. Water is local. Water is local. growth and environmental requirements combined with ongoing extreme weather events will undoubtedly put additional pressure on our water sources. As such, we must f nd innovative ways to more ef ciently allocate this most precious resource. This is the mantra of water managers across the western United States, a region united by the challenge of sustaining water- intensive urban and rural economies in an arid climate. The decision to marshal our water resources is made by a constellation of local authorities that historically have relied on a system of canals and other transmission networks to move water where it is needed. Broken Markets One emerging solution to cost-effectively move water where it is needed is through water rights trading, where one user sells or leases some or all of its annual water allocation to another user; this is largely done by regional water districts. According to