Water transfers in El Paso County, Texas

Water rights transfers for surface water have taken place in El Paso County in far west Texas for many decades. Historically, these exchanges have primarily occurred between agricultural water users. In recent decades, there have also been trnsfers from agricultural uses to urban uses. Ongoing commercial and demographic expansion in the El Paso metropolitan economy increases the likelihood of additional farm-to-municipal tranfers in future years. Although legal mechanisms have periodically been introduced to allow these exchanges to occur, pricing has not played a central role in the process. At present, water transfers in El Paso county occur under fairly rigid conditions