Blog: Water right exactions
Water right exactions are a proposed tool to mitigate costs associated with water rights and water infrastructure that would also help users make better decisions about how much water to use. But first, what are exactions? Exactions are a land use permitting tool used by cities and other permitting agencies to ensure developers bear some of the public costs of new development, like increased traffic, a need for more parks, or increased sewage from new residents. Technically, an exaction is property (money or other property) given by a developer in exchange for a discretionary permit (i.e., a permit that the permitting entity can decide whether or not to issue).