URL:

Abstract:

The management of natural resources is a complex tasks of significant social relevance. In particular, water management, because of growing scarcity and considerable economic and social implications, is at the forefront of public policy priorities in many countries. At the core of water policy is the need to foster a more rational use of the resource and this may be addressed by creating an efficient market of water rights. However the design and operation of such a market is not an easy endeavor because it needs to coexist in a complex social and legal framework that has evolved to address the different and sometimes conflicting objectives of the many stake holders involved.
This paper describes mWater, a regulated multiagent system where autonomous agents trade rights for the use of water in a closed basin. The focus of the paper is on the institutional framework that regulates those interactions and a discussion of the research opportunities therein.

• Tagged [6]
• XML [7]
• BibTex [8]