, Columnist
Taxing Groundwater Is a Sure Way to Preserve It
Farmers in California show that higher prices provide excellent motivation for conservation, but there are difficult trade-offs.
Taxing water is an effective tool that’s not receiving nearly enough thought.
Photographer: Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images
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Without really meaning to, farmers in a small California valley have spent the past 30 years in an experiment to see what happens when the groundwater they pump to their crops is taxed. The results are in, and they are striking. They could point the way to preserving a precious resource under threat worldwide.
But the experiment also highlights the difficult trade-offs that preparing for a sustainable future on a heating planet will bring.