India, Dec. 10 -- Chicago-based CME Group launched contracts in September and trading began December 7

In a first, water has officially joined the likes of gold and oil in being traded on Wall Street as a Futures commodity.

This means farmers, investors and municipalities would hedge against or bet on the future price of water, a resource that is fast becoming scarce in the world.

The contracts were launched by Chicago-based CME Group and are tied to the $1.1 billion California spot water market, reported Bloomberg.

The contracts were announced in September as heat and wildfires ravaged the US west coast and as California was emerging from an eight-year drought and trading began December 7.

Water availability is becoming increasingly l...