Infrastructure
The last reservoir: how a valley learned to ration its own river
Three summers of drought forced the Sørvik basin to invent a water market. Now other regions want the ledger, not the water.
Every Tuesday at six, Anders Holm walks the 400 metres from his farmhouse to the sluice and reads a number off a brass plate. He has done this since 1989. The number used to tell him how much water was left. Now it tells him what a cubic metre costs.
Above: The upper gate at Sørvik, 14 September. Water stood 6.2 m below the 1994 line.