The Value of Heterogeneous Property Rights and the Costs of Water Volatility

The system of prior appropriation in the Western Unites States prioritizes property rights for water based on the establishment of beneficial use, creating a hierarchy where rights initiated first are more secure. I estimate the demand for security in water rights through their capitalization in agricultural property markets using spatially explicit water rights data in the Yakima River Basin, a major watershed in Washington State. The Yakima River watershed, like many Western watersheds, satisfies all water claims during an average year so the benefits of secure water rights stem from protection against water curtailment during drought years. Thus the relative value of secure property rights is a function of water supply volatility because the costs of droughts are predominantly born by those with weak rights. Bayesian model averaging and boundary discontinuity specifications of the hedonic price model indicate that the premium for more secure water rights is not statistically different from zero.