Page 1
Groundwater Governance and Irrigated Agriculture:Global Challenges and Emerging Experience
Tushaar ShahSenior Fellow, International Water Management Institute, Colombo
Member, TEC, Global Water Partnership
Global Water Partnership
August 29, 2014
Stockholm
Page 2
Water for a food-secure world
Highlights
• a wicked problem everywhere (including California!).
• work in progress throughout the world.
• Results in US, Mexico, Spain, Chile needs critical
assessment rather than unquestioning acceptance
• Examples of evolving GwG regime in the developing world:
Barind in Bangladesh, GwG pilots in China and Gujarat;
Morocco’s PPP based conjunctive water use program.
• GwG versus aquifer management
• IWRM= Creating preconditions to success of PGM
Page 3
Water for a food-secure world
Several regions of the world have witnessed explosive growth
in groundwater use in agriculture since the 1960’s..
Page 4
Water for a food-secure world
Arid Agrarian
Systems
Industrial
Agriculture
Systems
Small-holder
Intensive Farming
Systems
Extensive
Pastoralim
Examples Jordan, Iran California,
Australia
South Asia,
North China
Sub-Saharan
AfricaArea served by groundwater > 6 m. ha
irrigation
~ 15 m. ha
irrigation
> 70-100 m. ha
irrigation
> 500 m. ha
grazing areaAgrarian pop/km2 of farm land 40-50 <1-5 300-800 10-20
% of geographic area under
cultivation1-5 5-15 40-60 5-15
% of cultivated area under
irrigation30-90 2-15 40-70 ~ 5
% of geographic area under
groundwater irrigation0.1-0.4 0.001-1.5 5-25 <0.001
Driver of ag. groundwater use Only source Wealth
creation
Intensive
diversification
Stock
wateringGW contribution to poverty
alleviationLow Very low Very high High
Four Groundwater Socio-ecologies
Page 5
Water for a food-secure world
Drivers of Agricultural Groundwater Demand
Page 6
Water for a food-secure world
Groundwater and the poor: US$ 300-500/ha
Groundwater and profits
(US $ 6000-25000/ha)
Page 7
Water for a food-secure world
Dominant GWG model through 1990’s: Groundwater as the easement of private property in land is the source of abuse.
• Unbundle groundwater rights from land rights by making water state property
• Issue usufructory rights in groundwater through permit/quota entitlements;
• Make these tradable;
• A system of monitoring individual withdrawals against allotted rights/permits/concessions
• Groundwater districts or user organizations to manage and enforce entitlements
Page 8
Water for a food-secure world
Instruments of groundwater governance
Ground
water or
surrogate
pricing
Tradable
entitle-
ments
Administrative
regulation
(e.g. zoning,
siting rules)
Community
aquifer
management
Recharge/
imported
water/
conjunctive
use
Indirect
approaches
US: Kansas � � � �
Australia � �
Mexico � �
Spain � �
China
(new pilots)
� Progressive � � �
Iran � �
Oman � �
Chile � �
Jordan � �
Pakistan �
Bangladesh � Barind
smart-meters
India � West
Bengal metered
power
� [APFMGS] � Saurashtra
recharge
movement
� Gujarat’s
Jyotigram
Page 9
Water for a food-secure world
Country Experiences
Country GwG strategy Groundwater
impacts
Remarks
1. Kansas, US Managed depletion through
Intensive Institutional ManagementSustained
Depletion
High management cost
1. Texas,
California, US
Managed depletion through Open
access, bar in endangered aquifersSustained
Depletion
“let locals figure it out”
2. Mexico COTA’s, tradable entitlements, water
markets but heavy energy subsidiesSustained
Depletion
Farmer sabotage of GwG
regime; enforcement
cost, defunct COTAs
3 Chile Tradable property rights Depletion (over-
allocation)
Farmers and rights
manager sabotage
4. Oman, Jordan,
Saudi
Intensive administrative regulation;
economic incentives, desalinationv. limited
successes
Strong state
5 Chinese pilots
in Hebei and
Gansu
‘Text-book solution’; state-directed
community management of
groundwater
successful in
depletion control
Needed: strong local
authority structures;
GwG refugees
6. Andhra
Pradesh, India
Community aquifer mgt through
farmer involvement in monitoringSome success Sustainable???
free energy;
dependence on prop ups
7. Gujarat, India Indirect approach: recharge movement;
power rationingSome success; sustained so far
Power rationing; GW
recharge; conjunctive
mgt;
Page 10
Water for a food-secure world
“…there seems no one best way… the right thing to
do depends on a complex variety of socio-
economic and political contingencies. ”
Page 11
Water for a food-secure world
Societies evolve their groundwater governance regimes
to respond to their unique contingencies
Chinese pilots:
economic, community,
technology,
enforcement:
The Ostrom Principles
Strong local authority
structures incentivized
for GwG
US, Australia: Tradable
entitlements
settlers’ need for
security of water tenure
Oman:
administrative regulation
TINA plus Sultan
Mexico, Chile: Tradable
entitlements mixed with
populism
Industrial farmers’ need
for security of water
tenure
India: no GwG, perverse
incentives, energy-gw co-
management
weak authority structures,
High transaction cost,
Vote-bank politics
Page 12
Water for a food-secure world
Disabling
Contingencies
Enabling
Contingencies
National and local authority
structures
Weak Strong (China, Oman,
Myanmar)
Organization of the groundwater
Economy
Numerous small
users
Few large users
% of population dependent on
farming
High Very small
Groundwater’s significance to
national food and livelihoods security
High Low (US; Mexico;
Spain)
Capacity, reach and effectiveness of
water bureaucracy
Low (South Asia) High (China, Kansas)
Perverse Incentives in GW irrigation
(energy subsidies; tube well
subsidies; output subsidies)
Present: India, Iran,
Syria, Mexico
Absent (China,
Pakistan, US,
Australia)
Productivity of groundwater irrigation Low (South Asia) High (China; Mexico,
California, Spain)
Page 13
Water for a food-secure world
Three Examples of Groundwater Governance in
Developing Country Context
• Idealized groundwater governance in
Chinese pilots
• Barind area public tubewell irrigation in
North-west Bangladesh
• Indirect instruments of groundwater
governance in Gujarat
Page 14
Water for a food-secure world
Government enforced Ostrom-style PGM in China:Quinxu county in Shanxi (Le and Perret 2012)
• Tubewells modernized & fitted with smart-card readers
• Village Committee incentivized and empowered to
enforce PGM
• Sustainable yield determined
• Per capita groundwater quota allocated
• Water price ladder established:
• 30%> quota=50% higher price/kWh
• 30-50%>quota=100% higher price/kWh
• >50> quota=200% higher price/kWh
• Impact?
• 20% decline in groundwater draft;
• 40% decline in area irrigated
• “close the wells, abandon the land” Unit Qingdepu Xihuaiyuan Xiaowang
Quota for the village 10,000 m3 70 98 50
Quota/mu (ha) m3 240 (3582) 240 (3582) 180 (2687)
Groundwater lifted/kWh m3 1.4 1.8 1.5
Price within quota US $/kWh 0.091 0.072 0.101
Irrigation cost/mu with allotted quota US $ 21.8 17.3 18.2
Irrigation cost/mu with 125 % of allotted quota US $ 36.9 28.8 24.5
Irrigation cost/mu with 145 % of allotted quota US $ 45.6 39.0 33.41
Price for withdrawals <quota +30 m3/mu US $/kWh 0.123 0.096 0.109
Price for withdrawals <quota +30 m3/mu US $/kWh 0.131 0.112 0.128
Page 15
Water for a food-secure world
Barind Area Development Project
• 400,000 ha of previously dry areas brought under public
tubewell irrigation;
• Buried pipe distribution system;
• Tubewells equipped with smart card readers;
• Farmers can buy coupons or use smart cards from local
distributors;
• Measured volumes on-demand
• Volumetric pricing built in
• “self-regulating groundwater development”
Page 16
Water for a food-secure world
Figure 1 a Electricity Network Before Figure 1 b Electricity Network after
Gujarat: Groundwater depletion sustained by perverse energy subsidies as in Mexico..
Page 17
Water for a food-secure world
Community-driven water harvesting and groundwater recharge
movement in Saurashtra has revitalized dying agriculture
Meghal basin drainage network Profusion of check dams built by people,
with government support
Page 18
Water for a food-secure world
Gujarat’s agriculture has been growing @ 9+%
This growth is energized by groundwater irrigation.
Yet, Gujarat is the only state in western India where
groundwater levels are improving..
Page 19
Water for a food-secure world
Groundwater
Abuse:
“wicked
problem”
Groundwater
Governance :
“work-in-
progress”
Way forward:
“fit concepts
to contexts”
IWRM=
Understand the problem+
Understand the context+
Learn from others+
Craft your solution
"Know thy self, know
thy enemy. A thousand
battles, a thousand
victories." - Sun Tzu
Page 20
Water for a food-secure world
Reform perverse incentives on input
side (e.g. energy subsidies) Reform perverse incentives on output
side (e.g. wheat-rice support prices in
India)
Reform perverse incentives on water
saving technologies)
Enhance awareness about
groundwater ecology through
participatory platforms
Register of tubewells;
participatory aquifer plans
Conjunctive management of surface
and groundwater
Demand management options
linked to New water supplies
Community aquifer
management
Bottom-up Sequencing of Interventions:
Groundwater Governance Protocol
Decommissioning wells and
irrigation areas
Develop groundwater
governance capacities and
participatory institutions