California is well into its fourth consecutive year of drought. Governor Jerry Brown called for the state’s first mandatory water restrictions just last week, while acknowledging that “there’s been fairly inadequate conservation so far.” Groundwater management regulation, which came into effect last September, was a first step towards improving the state’s response to severe drought. However a lot of work still remains to be done. For instance, current water rights penalize farmers who don’t use all the water that they’re entitled to. The “use it or lose it” approach leads to waste. Comes in SWIIM, a technology company whose vision is to let farmers lease water to other farmers. Not only is the water put to good use, but farmers’ water rights are protected over the long-term. SWIIM is about to start operating in California. It will be interesting to see how much estimated water can be saved this way.
The sharing economy inspires a new water conservation model in California
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