Co-management of Livelihoods and ESSR Outcomes in GDASES:Implications for WLE Research on Global Groundwater Governance

Tushaar Shah

November 5, 2014

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Highlights• South Asian perspective on GDASEs

• Global groundwater economy

• Evolutionary path of groundwater governance

• How should the new WLE focus on ESSR inform our research on GDASEs? How to bring groundwater into ESSR discourse?

• Win-win opportunities

• Acting outside the groundwater economy to change things within

Global Expansion in Groundwater Use in Agriculture

Each dot represents

5000 irrigation wells. Each well serves

4-6 farmers

India pumps 2.5 times the

groundwater that US pumps/year; but has 400 times more

users to govern.

A typology of global agricultural groundwater economy

  Arid Agrarian Systems

Industrial Agriculture Systems

Small-holder Intensive Farming Systems

Extensive Pastoralim

Examples Jordan, Iran California, Australia

South Asia, North China

Sub-Saharan Africa

Area served by groundwater > 6 m. ha irrigation

~ 15 m. ha irrigation

> 100-150 m. ha irrigation

> 500 m. ha grazing area

Agrarian pop/km2 of farm land 40-50 <1-5 300-800 10-20

% of geographic area under cultivation

1-5 5-15 40-60 5-15

% of cultivated area under irrigation

30-90 2-15 40-70 ~ 5

% of geographic area under groundwater irrigation

0.1-0.4 0.001-1.5 5-25 <0.001

Driver of ag.  groundwater  use Only source Wealth creation Intensive diversification

Stock watering

GW contribution to poverty alleviation

Low Very low Very high High

GDASEs

Nature of ESSR may be similar; but responses may differ

Groundwater Irrigation Economies around the world

US $ 300-800/ha

US $ 5000-30000/ha 

Stage 1India, Pakistan,Bangladesh; Ethiopia; Ghana

Stage IIMexicoChina

Stage IIIUS; Australia;Spain

Groundwater law and its enforcement

Non-existent Poorly enforced Strict and vigorously enforced

Institutions Missing; developmental

Developmental; reactive

Regulatory; proactive

Incentive structures Perverse; livelihoods-focused

Perverse (Mexico) to rational (China)

ESSR-driven

Administrative & scientific capacity

low Moderate Very high

Politics Majoritarian; irrigator’s vote-bank; no ESSR clout

Vote-bank strong but also ESSR clout

ESSR

Policy focus GW as a means to Poverty alleviation

Sustainable resource use

Co-management of ESSR

Evolutionary trajectory of Groundwater Governance Regimes

Grounwater is private, informal economy. Governments have little

role in investment and modest means in regulation.

Therefore..

Big opportunities for co-management of livelihoods,

productivity and ESSR by acting outside..

South Asia’s canal irrigation systems are ideally plumbed for conjunctive management of SW & GW?

This change demands proactive management

of systems

Target decision maker?

Canal irrigation managers

Figure 1 a Electricity Network Before Figure 1 b Electricity Network after

Gujarat: Groundwater depletion sustained by perverse energy subsidies as in Mexico..

ESSR impacts of feeder separation?

Solar pumps are likely to take over India’s groundwater economy in 10 years. They will reduce carbon footprint but also

deplete aquifers. What is the best way of promoting them?

Target decision maker?

National Solar Mission

Livelihoods++

Livelihoods -- --

ESSR ++ESSR -- --

Nobody wants this

ESSR-oriented trade off

Livelihood-oriented trade off

Win-Win opportunities

Incremental impacts of policy interventions

Groundwater-impacts of decisions

outside the groundwater sector

ESSR pay-offs of improved

conjunctive management

ESSR benefits of Gujarat’s Jyotigram Scheme of rationing

farm power

ESSR benefits of shifting India’s rice-

wheat system eastward

Political ecology of prosopis juliflura

Title

Economic benefits; technical efficiency;Production goals

Eco-System Services and

Resilience

Improvedwelfare

GW abstraction and Use

economics institutions

Access

ForwardLinkages

BackwardLinkages

Resourcesituation

ExternalityManagement

Groundwater economy

Resourceaugmentation

Context isAll important..

Understanding the groundwaterSocio-ecology in all its dimensions is

Key to evolving a GwG strategy that is Effective in its context

Final slide title

Related publications/further reading/ urls etc.

e.g. visit the blog

Adaptive Groundwater Management in hard-rock India: The Case of Saurashtra, Gujarat

Stages IPrivate Resource

Development1960-75

IICompetitive Exploitation

1975-90

IIICoping with

Interdependence1987-2010

IVGW-centric Adaptive

Water Mgt 2000-2010

Driver of farmer behavior

Irrigation expansion Maximize share in a limited aquifer

Augment the resource Adapt to resource availability

Observable Trends Wells multiply; innovations in drilling; specialization; drilling costs fall; water markets boom

Competitive deepening; Storage wellsbores within wells; bore-blasting; aquifer fracturing; Increase connectivity with water-bearing pores

groundwater recharge; Watershed mgt Irrigation tanks and canals transformed for recharge; growing support for blanket restrictions on draft

High value market crops; micro-irrigation;Dairying, poultry, sericulture, spices, fruit/veg.; demand for water import for recharge

Govt. policies Capital and power subsidies

Subsidies continue; half-hearted regulation

support to decentralized recharge; ration farm power supply

Farm power scarcity GW regulator; Managed Aquifer Recharge

Market institutions Buyers’ market for irrigation service

Sellers’ market; well owners make a killing

Irrigation service against 1/4th or 1/3rd crop share

Irrigation for share in high value crops

Water level fluctuations (normal monsoon)Groundwater draft/1000 ha% of groundwater draft sold% of monsoonal run off to  shallow circulation groundwater

Title• Groundwater irrigation as vertical drainage• Conjunctive management of surface and groundwater• Groundwater irrigation’s carbon footprint• Atomistic water control• GW is invariably involved in high value agriculture• Coping mechanisms and adaptation strategies• How should the new WLE focus on ESSR inform our research on GDASEs?• Discourse on GDASEs: difference of degree (more of ESSR) or of kind (GW as an eco-

system with internalized externality only one of its ESS); social welfare function; payment for ES is way of internalizing externality

• The political ecology of prosopis juliflura• Payment for ES: decentralized groundwater recharge in Saurashtra (gap between

private and social cost and benefit)• BRING GROUNDWATER INTO ESS PICTURE• LOOK AT DIFFERENT SCALES TO UNDERSTAND THE WHOLE SYSTEM• Institutions/governance• Agriculture, small holders, poverty, resilience