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Center for Economic Research and Forecasting Establishes Water Market

Executive Director Matthew Fienup and Board Chair Edgar Terry of our Center for Economic Research and Forecasting (CERF) are doing revolutionary work. Under their leadership, a group of farmers, city representatives and the Fox Canyon Groundwater Management Agency (FCGMA), CERF developed a comprehensive set of recommendations for the establishment and the operation of a water market designed to deal with the uncertain and declining availability of water. In this model, users with unused water allocations will be allowed to transfer the right to use that water to someone else (and to be compensated for forgoing use). Water trading has proven to be successful in supporting agricultural productivity, enhancing municipal water security and maximizing environmental benefits. CERF was chosen to be the market’s exchange administrator, and to collect enrollment fees from market participants as well as fees from market transactions. This project positions CERF at the center of a radically new and innovative solution to an ongoing challenge confronting California, and has already drawn interest nationwide. CERF also will participate in a $ 1.8 million contract that the prestigious Nature Conservancy has received from the US Department of Agriculture that aims at the extension of water markets.

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