SHUTTING OFF THE TAP: STRUCTURING BUY AND DRY PROGRAMS FOR THE WESTERN WATER CRISIS.

Despite a wet winter in 2023, long-term drought conditions pressure Western states to address chronic water scarcity challenges. The drying of reservoirs, lakebeds, and streams over the past decade has caused substantial harm to ecosystems and economies in the region. Outmoded water laws, recalcitrant water rights holders, and hesitant courts have stifled efforts to use water transfers to mitigate these problems in some Western river basins. One straightforward way for governments to ease these challenges is to purchase land with existing water rights and then permanently retire those rights. The government's purchase Of senior water rights to discontinue prior water uses-a practice commonly known as "buy and dry"-has historically been unpopular and rarely used because of its potential adverse impacts on rural agricultural communities. However, in an era when climate change is exacerbating water crises in Western river basins with long overallocated water systems, well-tailored buy and dry programs deserve a second look. Structuring such programs to be voluntary and providing generous assistance to affected rural communities could enable them to play a valuable role in confronting the di®culties Western states face as their climate continues to dry out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]