Trading Water on the Web

A trickle of Websites promotes trading water rights. Will it turn into a flood or a wash?

1 minute read

August 3, 2000, 7:30 AM PDT

By Chris Steins @planetizen


An estimated $2 billion to $3 billion in water deals are made annually in the West, an arid region where water takes on almost religious significance. In California, for example, two-thirds of the population live in the southern half of the state, whereas two-thirds of the state’s precipitation falls in the north. The water business, emotionally charged and marked by decades of political strife, has begun streaming into cyberspace, with Websites such as Albuquerque, N.M.—based WaterBank and Houston, Texas—based Water2Water springing up to facilitate buying, selling, storing, and transporting water in the West. Companies include Water2Water, The Water Rights Market, WaterInvestments.com, WaterBank and iAqua.com.

Thanks to Chris Steins

Tuesday, August 8, 2000 in Business 2.0

Lake Powell with much of the water evaporated.

Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River

Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.

October 30, 2026 - Yale Environment 360

A road in north eastern Nebraska with power lines on either side, and grassy fields.

Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity

Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.

November 6, 2026 - Grist

A rendering of a mall turned living space. People walk around a green space surrounded by apartments.

Malls are becoming the midtowns of the future

Mall and office park redevelopments are a generational opportunity to create new nodes of urbanity.

October 29, 2026 - Ben Schneider

A car drives through a puddle in NYC

NYC breaks ground on anti-flooding infrastructure project

New York City's new system will reduce stormwater flows to local sewers by 90%.

November 9 - Smart Cities Dive

Members of the Smoketown CLT gather for a photo

One Kentucky town’s secret to affordable housing

The Smoketown Community Land Trust has already built seven affordable homes for community members.

November 9 - Reasons to Be Cheerful

Two people stand under mesh coverings shaped like petals

Houston gains petal-shaped cooling infrastructure to make streets more ‘delightful’

The city has installed the pavilions along 15 blocks in Houston.

November 9 - De Zeen

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.