In the tiny town of Cibola, Arizona, water is more valuable than oil. Nearly a decade ago, a private firm bought almost 500 acres of agricultural land in the area. Recently, the company sold the water rights tied to the land to Queen Creek, a Phoenix suburb more than 200 miles east of Cibola, making a tidy $14 million in gross profits.
Greenstone Resource Partners isn't the only company doing this. Experts think the practice will become more common in drought-stricken regions across the West, especially as climate change and chronic overuse continue to sap the Colorado River watershed.
Reporter Maanvi Singh has been covering the issue for The Guardian.