Thomas Clay Arnold: The San Luis Valley and the moral economy of water

The Nature Conservancy, an environmental group, and the residents of San Luis Valley united to preserve the Great Sand Dunes Monument in the valley. By purchasing the Baca Ranch, a 97,000-acre wilderness area adjacent to the Sand Dunes, the Nature Conservancy helped to save a national landmark and prevent the transfer of water resources.

Arnold interpreted the transaction as an example of moral economy, "normative principles that ultimately inform Westerners' determinations of the legitimacy or illegitimacy of existing or proposed water-related practices, developments, or policies" (p. 38). Consistent with the basic theme of this volume, equity constitutes one of the principles. The other priniciple combines "the social, cultural, and especially political factors that confront the growing calls for significantly more market-driven transfers and urban-oriented allocations of western water" (p. 38). Using the history of the purchase as an example, Arnold examined political conflict and reform, the ramification of the purchase on the issue of regional sustainability, and the reconciliation of the identified principles with public policy, as they addressed agricultural, recreational, aesthetic, commercial, industrial, and ecological interests.

Arnold, T. C. (2008). The San Luis Valley and the moral economy of water. In J. M. Whiteley, H. Ingram, R. W. Perry (eds.), Water, Place, & Equity, pp. 37-67. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.