Changing Western water institutions: energy's role

This paper describes the institutional mechanisms through which physical availability of water, historical pattern of water use, and unresolved water issues combine to constrain and channel the energy industry's use of water. These institutional mechanisms include the developing markets for water rights, the legal and administrative structure governing water allocation, the formation of social attitudes about water, and the political process that often implements concensus. Within this context, the narrow physical interpretation commonly given to the question, Is there enough water, broadens greatly to include the institutional dimension that is the most important component of the question