The challenge to manage the allocation of water efficiently and equably will become a dominant theme of the new millennium. At a time when the cost of obtaining fresh water is rising throughout the globe, Terence Lee analyses the means for establishing and operating effective water markets. He proposes the application of economic instruments and the transfer of water management administration to the private sector as a means to guarantee acceptable water quality in the future in both developed and developing countries. This treatment of water as an economic commodity implies a change in the traditional role of governments in water management.The themes explored in this book will be of interest to environmental and resource economists as well as practitioners and policymakers.