An interesting development has been reported by various news outlets this past week regarding the planned launch of futures contracts for water supply. According to the reports, Wall Street is about to start trading futures contracts on California's water supply. According to Bloomberg Government, "The contracts are the first of their kind in the U.S. and are being created by CME Group Inc., the world’s largest futures exchange. They are intended, CME says, to both allow California’s big water consumers -- like almond farms and municipalities -- to hedge against surging prices and can act as a benchmark that signals how acute water scarcity is becoming in the state and, more broadly, across the globe."
More reporting on this development can be found at the following sites: