Wall Street has begun trading water as a commodity, like gold or oil.

The country’s first water market launched on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange this week with $1.1 billion in contracts tied to water prices in California, Bloomberg News reported. 

 The market allows farmers, hedge funds, and municipalities to hedge bets on the future price of water and water availability in the American West. Proponents argue the new market will clear up some of the uncertainty around water prices for farmers and municipalities, helping them budget for the resource.

 But some experts say treating water as a tradable commodity puts a basic human right into the hands of financial institutions and investors, a dangerous arrangement as climate change alters precipitation patterns and increases water scarcity.  

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