Last update: October 27, 2006 . Thank you for visiting the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA.
This site is dedicated to exploring the motivations and mechanisms leading to profitable water conservation. The possibility of selectively introducing a water marketing mechanism into water management strategies is explored. Water marketing would also likely influence the introduction and use of water conserving technologies. The site rests upon the foundation of metaeconomics theory that recognizes a moral (doing-the-right-thing) dimension to water marketing. Metaeconomics posits that water markets will be truly effective when water trading reflects the empathic others-interest (of which the moral dimension is a subset) as well as the egoistic self-interest in synergistic fashion. This is to say, the individual jointly seeks both a public and a private interest. The two interests are interdependent and generally cannot be separated. Traders in water want to do the right thing as well as seek individual gains. As a result, we could expect that a water market organized on this base would produce more income and wealth as well as environmental enhancement through conservation. We would expect more win-win outcomes. This idea of jointly doing the right thing while simultaneously pursuing the self-interest is a key idea in metaeconomics, and differs substantively from the amoral framework and approach of standard microeconomics theory. This site is part of a larger site on Market Mechanisms, Incentives and Conservation Technologies (also, see Lynne HomePage).
Intriguing Facts about Water
Water Decision Making and Behavior
Presentation at the Water Center Colloquium, October, 2006 (Narrated
Powerpoint; will need the Java plug-in, a free download, on your computer to
hear the Audio)
Government Agency Sites
Potential and Actual Water Markets