The Relationship between Priority and Value of Irrigation Water Used with Prior Appropriation Water Rights
研究了优先占用水权制度下，水权优先等级与用水价值的关系，发现被转让的水权中优先权更高的水会从低价值农业用途转向高价值用途，而未转让的水权则优先权与土地盈利能力不匹配。
This article examines the relationship between water right priority and value of use for rights defined by prior appropriation, and tests whether this relationship is different for rights that have been transferred from their original locations to new locations, versus those that have not. We develop an empirical model using data for agricultural irrigation water rights and show that for transferred water rights, more senior (higher-priority) rights are reallocated from lower-to higher-valued agricultural uses. For water rights that remained unchanged, we find that priority order and potential profitability, as indicated by land characteristics, are not well aligned.