Amidst all the dire drought news, you’ve probably been hearing about “water rights,” which are as weirdly abstract as they sound. So what’s the deal with water rights? Can you buy some yourself? When reporter Ryan Bradley sets out to get $500 of water rights in The Adaptors podcast, it gets pretty hairy.


First off, there’s no real market for water rights. You can’t just go to the store or call up your guy. What does happen is that water rights get passed from farmer to farmer—and in some cases, to hedge funds, which buy up water rights as investments. (Looking like a pretty good investment in this drought, huh?)

So does Bradley get this $500 of water rights? Listen to The Adaptors podcast below.


And if you’re curious to learn even more about water rights, we’ve got your full-service explainer right here.

[The Adaptors]

Top image: The reservoir at Lake Mead .



Contact the author at sarah@gizmodo.com .

