Figure 1
Knowledge, motivation, and agency framework for groundwater governance.
Source: Authors, and see Enqvist et al. (2018), Siphos et al. (2008).
Table 1
Toolboxes for groundwater governance: Six illustrative cases.
| a. Typical customary rules | b. Conventional regulation | c. Western India |
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| d. Andhra Pradesh Farmer Managed Groundwater Systems (APFAMS), India | e. Foundation for Ecological Security (FES), India | f. Synthesis for North China Plain |
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[i] Sources: a. Customary rules (Van Steenbergen & Shah, 2003); b. conventional regulation (Molle & Closas, 2016); c. information-based (Andhra Pradesh Farmer Managed Groundwater Systems) (Reddy et al., 2021; Venkata et al., 2013; Verma et al., 2012); d. Experiential learning (Foundation for Ecological Security) (Sanil et al., 2024; Meinzen-Dick et al., 2018); e. Western India (e.g., Gujarat, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra) (Shah, 2009; Shah et al., 2018); f. North China Plain (Kinzelbach et al., 2022).
Table 2
Six synergies to consider in crafting groundwater governance.
| SYNERGIES | KNOWLEDGE-MOTIVATION-AGENCY | HEAD-HEART-HANDS | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Learning from local knowledge and hydrogeology | Knowledges – local experience and ideas synthesized with hydrogeological analysis | Head |
| 2. | Engaging plural values | Motivations – internal to external; caring for self, others, and environment | Heart |
| 3. | Participatory crafting | Collective agency – by stakeholders | Hands |
| 4. | Recombining old and new institutions | What to do – creativity, social learning, bricolage, tinkering, layering | Head and Hands |
| 5. | Norms and rules | Why to do – multiple motivations, informal and formal sanctions, economic incentives, etc. | Heart |
| 6. | Co-management by communities and governments | Who acts – co-production, government support for autonomous governance | Hands |
Table 3
Article contents: Scale, tools, knowledge, motivation, and agency.
| ARTICLE AUTHORS AND TITLES | SCALE | TOOLS (PRIMARY) | KNOWLEDGE AND INFORMATION | MOTIVATION | AGENCY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ahn, Minwoo, Elizabeth Baldwin, and Dylan Girone. “Caution as a Response to Scientific Uncertainty: A Groundwater Game Experiment.” | Group in lab | Experiential game | Uncertainty about recharge | Financial incentives in lab experiment; told to maximize individual earnings | Coordinate crop choices |
| ElDidi, Hagar, Wei Zhang, Ivy Blackmore, Fekadu Gelaw, Caterina De Petris, Natnael Teka, Seid Yimam, Dawit Mekonnen, Claudia Ringler, and Ruth Meinzen-Dick. “Getting Ahead of the Game: Experiential Learning for Groundwater Governance in Ethiopia.” | Groups and communities in field | Experiential game and community debriefing | Understanding interconnected nature of groundwater use | Fairness, value of collective action and rules, graduated sanctions | Coordinate crop choices |
| Sanil, Richu, Thomas Falk, Ruth Meinzen-Dick and Pratiti Priyadarshini. “Combining Approaches for Systemic Behaviour Change in Groundwater Governance.” | Groups and communities in field; government agencies at local and higher levels | Experiential game plus other tools: crop-water budgeting, recharge planning | Understanding interconnected nature of groundwater use; crop water requirements | Commoning; improving livelihoods and making them more ecologically secure | Communities: coordinate crop choices (demand management); water harvesting (recharge); government investments; staff training |
| Hamamouche, Meriem Farah, Emanuele Fantini, Mohamed Amine Saidani, and Mohammed Khouadja. “Participatory video on groundwater governance with youth in the M’zab Valley, Algeria.” | Community | Participatory videos by youths and by researchers | Intergenerational learning | Survival; ethnic identity, pride, and duties; communal well-being | Create video, revive traditional practices, advocate for change |
| Zwarteveen, Margreet, Carolina Domínguez-Guzmán, Marcel Kuper, Amine Saidani, Jeltsje Kemerink-Seyoum, Frances Cleaver, Himanshu Kulkarni, et al. “Caring for Groundwater: How Care Can Expand and Transform Groundwater Governance.” | Communities | Researchers learning from and with communities | Practices of care, learning by tinkering | Forms of care, as affection and action | Craft rules, maintain, recharge |
| De Bont, Chris, and Lowe Börjeson. “Policy Over Practice: A Review of Groundwater Governance Research in Sub-Saharan Africa.” | Community, national, | Review of literature | Scientific disciplines and local knowledge | Optimizing efficiency of technology and regulation, equity and social inclusion, sustainability | Formal policies, local practices |
| Vora, Shuchi. Learning Together for Groundwater Management: A Case of the Devnadi Basin, Nashik, Maharashtra, India | River basin/sub-basin | Systems thinking with causal loop diagrams | Expert disciplines, understanding system linkages | Local control, farm earnings, equity and efficiency in collective action, value pluralism, long-term thinking, ecosystem needs | Building shared mental models as a basis for agreement and action |
| Schmidt, Sylvia, Ahmad Hamidov, and Ulan Kasymov. “Analysing Groundwater Governance in Uzbekistan through the Lenses of Social-Ecological Systems and Informational Governance.” | National and trans-national | Review of regional literature on groundwater governance and information | Information governance, data sharing | Regulatory approaches to problems of salinity, pollution, overexploitation, water-energy-food security tensions | Government agencies withhold or share information, implement/comply with policies |
| Mukuyu, Patience, Nyambe Nyambe, Manuel S. Magombeyi, and Girma Yimer Ebrahim “Polycentric Groundwater Governance: Insights from the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area.” | Inter-national trans-boundary | International agreements | Information sharing for coordination | Integrated Water Resource Management, Indigenous stewardship | Establish and implement agreements |