Environment

It's About to Get Easier For California Farmers to Conserve Water—And Sell It

One startup wants to fix California’s water market. But shouldn’t the state be doing more?

Gino Celli draws a water sample to check the salinity in an irrigation canal that runs through his fields near Stockton, California.AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

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July 10, 2015 at 12:42 PM EDT

There’s no “solving” California’s drought, as so many headlines suggest. Drought is a regular feature of the Western climate cycle. Future droughts are almost certain to be more frequent and more severe.

But there are ways of managing a drought, and one Colorado startup has a new one: A mix of technology that might streamline water sales between California water-rights holders. It’s a welcome new addition to the state’s water market, which has long been cumbersome and opaque. Sustainable Water and Innovative Irrigation Management (SWIIM) proposes to help fix that, while making it easier for farmers—who use 80 percent of the state’s water—to conserve. Mother Jones reports:

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