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A comment on Why districts are slow to charge market rates for water. Parent comment

Re:Why districts are slow to charge market rates for water by rocqua on Monday May 22, 2023 @03:42AM (#36028495)
> How could "market rate" mean anything for water?

Water is limited. And water use above basic needs has clear economic value. Besides water is a commodity. Water should be one of the easiest things to price.

There is a base level of water each person needs. That is inelastic demand, and an abomination to price gouge. But most water usage isn't these basic needs. That makes it decently easy to protect these basic needs.

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Re:Why districts are slow to charge market rates for water by eftychis on Monday May 22, 2023 @11:54AM (#36033033)
Not true. Water is "burdened" by pile of rights, where using more water reduces future cost for big entities.

Individual citizen consumption has nothing to do with prices, and their average usage is meaningless.

States and large water rights ventures fight over all these, and farmers are extremely incentivized to keep growing anything year round to consume at or above but never below their water allocation and right.

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