Jenna Bednar: Groundwater policy and the governance of interstate waters, with a focus on the Ogallala Aquifer

1. Properties of Robust Governance of
Interstate Waters:
The Case of the Ogallala
Jenna Bednar
Department of Political Science
jbednar@umich.edu

2. Source: B. Basso, MSU

4. CPR ideal management,
Ogallala mismatch
• Clear boundaries, local rule-
making, monitoring and
graduated sanctioning
• federalism/Interstate
conflict of interests, no
federal regulation, surface v
groundwater law, prior
appropriation doctrine,
USDA crop insurance, US
biofuel subsidies

5. Robust System Design
• Robustness: system’s ability to recover,
perhaps through adaptation, rather than tip to
irreversible failed status
• Three analytical tasks:
1. Identify what failure means
2. Characterize how prone to failure the system is
3. Identify adaptive mechanisms

6. Robust Groundwater Policy---
Let’s Talk!
• Mapping of basin troughs: identify sub-basins for
decentralized governance
• Accurate predictions of groundwater decline
• Connection between water resource and future
economy (to calculate future loss from current
practice)
• Leads on other aquifer management programs
Jenna Bednar
Email me: jbednar@umich.edu