Watch: Can alternative transfer mechanisms (ATMs) alleviate water scarcity?
In case you missed it, find here the recording of the seminar presentation held 3 September 2025.
Speaker: Asst. Prof. Andrew Ayres | University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), United States. Moderator: Prof. Djiby Thiam | Director: WPE – Water and Production Economics, University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa.
Increasing water scarcity in the American West is driving interest in reallocating more water from agriculture, where roughly 80% of water is consumed, to serve growing urban populations. However, agricultural irrigators often hesitate to sell water due to concerns over physical and pecuniary impacts in their local economies. Alternative transfer mechanisms (ATMs) are contracts designed to avoid these impacts by reallocating water when it is especially scarce, for example during drought, while maintaining agricultural production in other years. We study the effects of a fallowing-based ATM between a major water wholesaler and an agricultural district in southern California. Our findings highlight difficulties in contracting over water via fallowing and emphasise the importance of improved measurement techniques in designing water transfers. More
This seminar is part of the UCT-UCR Seminar Series: Water Economics and Politics, a collaboration between the University of Cape Town (UCT) and University of California, Riverside (UCR). Subscribe to our mailing list to receive updates on upcoming sessions.