Severe droughts in many parts of the region in the 1990s, as well as growing awareness of the effects of water-related subsidies on water use and aquatic systems, have reawakened interest in some countries, such as Spain and United States, in the role that tradable water rights and water markets could play in allowing water use to move national up towards higher-value applications.
Les pays d'Asie centrale riverains de la mer d'Aral possèdent quelques-uns des plus vastes réseaux d'irrigation du monde et, parallèlement, ils doivent faire face aux conséquences environnementales d'une irrigation à grande échelle insoutenable à terme.