Thanks Camilla. I think there are two different aspects related to your question. The first is that, to me and as I tried to explain in this blog, "water rights" as such only exist under the Common Law (the Anglo-Saxon system). Hence there are many places around the world where the concept of water rights itself does not make sense for people, especially the most vulnerable. The only generic term I know is the "Human right to water", but this is of course different from "water right" under the usual meaning of those who would like to make it a tradable good.
The second is related to the Payment for Hydrological Ecosystem Services. As explained by Marcela Quintero in her recent blog, evidence shows that so-called "benefit sharing mechanisms" are more common than "payment for ecosystem services", because most users are actually not ready to pay. Sharing the benefits from ecosystem services goes way beyond the economic value of such services (hence beyond water markets), and also consider the social, cultural, environmental values which are so important to individuals and communities.
Thanks Camilla. I think there are two different aspects related to your question. The first is that, to me and as I tried to explain in this blog, "water rights" as such only exist under the Common Law (the Anglo-Saxon system). Hence there are many places around the world where the concept of water rights itself does not make sense for people, especially the most vulnerable. The only generic term I know is the "Human right to water", but this is of course different from "water right" under the usual meaning of those who would like to make it a tradable good.
The second is related to the Payment for Hydrological Ecosystem Services. As explained by Marcela Quintero in her recent blog, evidence shows that so-called "benefit sharing mechanisms" are more common than "payment for ecosystem services", because most users are actually not ready to pay. Sharing the benefits from ecosystem services goes way beyond the economic value of such services (hence beyond water markets), and also consider the social, cultural, environmental values which are so important to individuals and communities.