Is Water Market a Panacea?

Geological studies show water shortages in Iran will get worse due to waste and rising consumption.
How to manage the rapidly dwindling resource has become a nightmare for policymakers and urban managers struggling to do more with less.
According to a report by the Majlis Research Center, the research arm of Iran’s Parliament, a plan to deal with the shortages could be setting up water markets where buyers and sellers can trade water both through short- and long-term leases and permanent sale of their water rights, the Persian-language economic newspaper Donya-e-Eqtesad reported.
The report highlighted the pros and cons of the controversial approach.