This article examines the relationship between water right priority and value of use for rights defined by prior appropriation, and tests whether this relationship is different for rights that have been transferred from their original locations to new locations, versus those that have not. We develop an empirical model using data for agricultural irrigation water rights and show that for transferred water rights, more senior (higher-priority) rights are reallocated from lower-to higher-valued agricultural uses. For water rights that remained unchanged, we find that priority order and potential profitability, as indicated by land characteristics, are not well aligned. (JEL Q15, Q25)

中文翻译：

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优先占用水权灌溉用水优先权与价值的关系

本文考察了水权优先权与优先占用定义的权利使用价值之间的关系，并检验了这种关系对于从原始地点转移到新地点的权利与未转移到新地点的权利是否不同。我们使用农业灌溉水权数据开发了一个经验模型，并表明对于转让的水权，更高级（更高优先级）的权利从价值较低的农业用途重新分配到价值较高的农业用途。对于保持不变的水权，我们发现土地特征所表明的优先顺序和潜在盈利能力并不一致。(JEL Q15, Q25)