Ruth Meinzen-Dick, Thomas Falk (presenter), Pratiti Priyadarshini, Subrata Singh, Rajesh Mittal International Conference of the The Indian Society for Ecological Economics Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi Economics of Groundwater Extraction and Policy December 15-17, 2021

1. Gaming the System:
Stimulating Rules and Behavior Change for
Governance of Groundwater Use in India
Ruth Meinzen-Dick, Thomas Falk, Pratiti Priyadarshini,
Subrata Singh, Rajesh Mittal
International Conference of the
The Indian Society for Ecological Economics
Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi
Economics of Groundwater Extraction and Policy
15-17 December 2021

2. The Groundwater Commons
Water as commons:
• High subtractability (one person’s use
reduces GW for others)
• Low excludability (boundaries difficult to
establish)
• Fugitive resource
• Further challenges of groundwater:
• Low visibility
• Lack of understanding of resource dynamics
• Difficult to identify aquifer boundaries, esp.
in hard rock
• “Traditional knowledge” insufficient with
rapidly developing pumping technology
• State regulation largely ineffective in India

3. Community groundwater management
• Technical tools to improve understanding of GW, but what motivation
to use them?
• Community GW management programs often not sustained
• Which roles plays coordination
• Social innovations
• From “teaching” to “social learning”

4. How to create spaces for social learning?

5. Experiential Learning
• Can games be used to strengthen collective resource management?
• Offer safe environment to experience
shared challenge
• Simulate several seasons in short time
• Encourage discussion of situation
• Try different institutional arrangements
(Rules)
• Shape “mental models” and
understanding of relationships
(biophysical and social)
Requires understanding of behavior

6. Games +
Tools
Community
Rules
(Surface & GW)
Groundwater
Use
Groundwater
Levels
Prices
Government
Policy
Watershed
Management
Programs Maintenance
of Surface
Structures
Groundwater
Recharge
Rainfall
Community
Understanding

7. Groundwater game
• Groups of 5 men or women (separately)
• Choose crop
• A takes 1 unit water, gives 2 units money
• B takes 2 units water, gives 3 units money
• 2 units (total) for domestic water
• 7 units recharge
• See effect on water table over multiple “years”
• First set of rounds: no communication, individual
choice
• Second set of rounds: communication but
individual choice (“cheap talk”—no penalties)
• Third round: group can set rules

8. Community Debriefing
• Full village invited
• Basics of game described
• Share general game results
• No specifics about individuals
• Small group discussions led by game
participants
• Engage community in discussions
about:
➢How this relates to own
experiences and challenges farming
➢Lessons and insights participants
gained from the experience
➢Possible solutions

9. Importance of follow up tools
Download from https://cwb.fes.org.in/ Download from https://det.fes.org.in

10. 538
774
300
244
307
99
258
214
627
1062
464
404
395
152
350
405
89
288
165
159
88
53
92
191
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
Intercrops (Wheat, Jowar etc.), Mandal, Bhilwara
Wheat, Mandal, Bhilwara
Cotton- CWB, Yavatmal
Cotton+Redgram- CWB, Yavatmal
Wheat- CWB, Yavatmal
Gram- CWB, Yavatmal
Jowar- CWB, Yavatmal
Tomato, Chittoor
Water Used & saved (Litre/ Kg of Prodcue)
Locations
&
Crops
Water Used Before and After Crop Water Budgeting
Rabi - 2019-20
Water Saved
Water used Before CWB
Water used After CWB

11. Outcomes of Games
Game States Year # habitations Outcomes
Groundwater
pilot
Andhra Pradesh 2013,
2014
17 Some effect on attitudes
Communities more likely to adopt water registers &
rules for groundwater *
Surface water Rajasthan
Madhya Pradesh
2016
2017
30
60
Communities more likely brought swelling water
conflicts to the table and engaged in dam
maintenance activities *
Groundwater
expansion
Rajasthan,
Madhya Pradesh,
Andhra Pradesh
2014-
2019
214 Total 3747 farmers adopted less water consumptive
crops or varieties and irrigation scheduling to save
water**
*Compared to randomly selected control communities where game has no been played
**Compared to farmers’ reported behavior, prior to the games

12. Resources
• Project website:https://www.ifpri.org/project/scaling-
experiential-learning-tools-sustainable-water-governance-india
• Commoning the Commons: A Sourcebook to Strengthen
Management and Governance of Water as Commons
https://fes.org.in/resources/sourcebooks,manuals,atlases-&-
ecoprofiles/manuals/strengthening_governance_and_managem
ent_of_water_as_commons.pdf
• Meinzen-Dick, R., M. Janssen, S. Kandikuppa, R. Chaturvedi, K.
Rao and S. Theis. 2018. Playing Games to Save Water: Collective
Action Games for Groundwater Management in Andhra
Pradesh, India. World Development 107(July):40-53.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X1
8300445
• Falk, T., Kumar, S., Srigiri, S., 2019. Experimental games for
developing institutional capacity to manage common water
infrastructure in India, Agricultural Water Management. 221:
260–269
• HTTP://GAMESFORSUSTAINABILITY.ORG/PRACTITIONERS/
• http://g
amesforsustainability.org/2015/12/05/groundwater-game-
for-practitioners/
• https://gamesforsustainability.org/practitioners/#game-
on-managing-check-dams