Letters

摘要

Your otherwise excellent article on water repeated a common misperception about the role of water pricing ("Running dry", September 20th). You attributed the "wasteful" use of water by farmers to the fact that governments "rarely charge" them a market price for the stuff. However, pricing water does little to stimulate efficiency or ensure best allocation to highest-value uses.rnConsider the case of the Murray-Darling Basin. The use of water there is managed through a system of water rights, defined in terms of volumes and security of supply. During the current extensive drought, many water users are receiving only a small fraction of their "normal" entitlement. This is enforced entirely through the water-rights system-not through pricing mechanisms-enabling water to be reallocated from low-value to high-value uses; despite massive reductions in rainfall and river flows, there has been little impact on the value of agricultural production in the Basin.