Across the western United States, environmental water transaction programs (EWTPs) restore environmental flows by acquiring water rights and incentivizing changes in water management. These programs have evolved over several decades, expanding from relatively simple two-party transactions to multiobjective deals that simultaneously benefit the environment and multiple water-using sectors. Such programs now represent an important water management tool and provide an impetus for collaboration among stakeholders; yet, most evaluations of their effectiveness focus exclusively on environmental outcomes, without adequate attention to impacts on other water users or local economies. To understand how these programs affect stakeholders, a systematic, multiobjective evaluation framework is needed. To meet this need, we developed a suite of environmental and socioeconomic indicators that can guide the design and track the implementation of water transaction portfolios, and we applied them to existing EWTPs in Oregon and Nevada. Application of the indicators quantifies impacts and helps practitioners design water transaction portfolios that avoid unintended consequences and generate mutually beneficial outcomes among environmental, agricultural, and municipal interests.(KEY TERMS: environmental flows; water scarcity economics; water markets; sustainability; water allocation; environmental indicators.)

Over the last decade, Montana's fastest growing basins have experienced a surge of reliance on a certain “permit‐exempt well loophole,” which enables small ground water diversions to avoid having to go through the regulatory process that determines whether the proposed use would adversely impact senior water users and ground water supply. This loophole has generated significant conflict with senior right owners in areas where exempt wells have provided water for large‐scale residential developments. As a partial solution, this article examines ground water mitigation exchanges designed to address similar issues in Washington and presents the 63rd Montana Legislature with recommendations for a Montana pilot project.