292 karma · joined April 5, 2022
Give each citizen / resident a basic water allowance that they don't need to pay for (or do it by tax rebate) and charge high prices for usage above that. If rich people can afford to pay prices that would be comparable to desalinating water and trucking it to their house, let them have a lawn. This is how Carbon taxing in Canada works, everyone pays X% and it is offset for poorer people by giving them money several times per year (some provinces give an equal money to each person rather than based on income).
> When rain falls on my land, who do I pay, and how much? What about water from an aquifer?
Some places already don't let you keep rainwater without a licence and the government has the right to see how much and what you are doing with said water. Similarly for aquifers, put a meter on it, big fines if you get caught bypassing the meter.
> If I decide to dam all the water from leaving my land, is that okay?
Nope. Not only is this hoarding of resources you might not have legal right to possess (see above about rainwater), but depending on the size of your reservoir it can pose a safety risk to those downstream.
> Can Colorado decide to dam divert the entire Colorado River from reaching downstream?
There is the Colorado river treaty that legally prevents this. From a practical standpoint it ridiculous.
>This is just unnecessary.
I agree the ad hominem is not required, although the analogy is itself decent.