Global trade of water supplies seem a relative certainty as human populations grow (currently over 6.6 billion), agricultural practices increase, and precipitation and snow-melt become ever-more unpredictable.
Investors are lining up to stake their claim in this possible trading scheme, and they do so touting the environmental integrity of water conservation. A recent article on the Times Online – UK edition, explains the likely scenario in an article entitled: Water whets the appetite of commodity traders with an eye to the next fortune.
The exact way that water would fit into the global market is still a bit ambiguous. It could be comparable to current markets in Australia, or even micro-markets in the US, where water rights are sold and/or traded simultaneously as the state management of water supplies. A parallel is even drawn to current Carbon Markets – Emissions Trading, which in concept, is not a very accurate association because trading of carbon credits is conceptual, but the trading of water would be tangible.
What does this mean for the future of individuals with no significant monetary coffers? Well, that is uncertain, but one thing is for sure, there are many individuals that would like to make a profit on the liquid of life, water.
