Presentation at the Dupont Forum. The panel will look at how investing in technologies is insufficient on its own to enact effective agricultural water management, and will explore the importance of accompanying context appropriate policies and institutions.

1. Building Institutions for Groundwater
Governance in Andhra Pradesh, India
Ruth Meinzen-Dick1
, Rahul Chaturvedi2
, Laia Domenech1
,
Rucha Ghate,3
Marco Janssen,4
Nathan Rollins4
1
International Food Policy Research Institute
2
Foundation for Ecological Security
3
ICIMOD
4
Arizona State University
Funded by CGIAR Research Program on Water, Land and Ecosystems

2. Stimulating self-governance
• Anecdotes that playing field experiments and
debriefing with community lead to changes in
governance.
• With IFPRI and Indian NGOs study in 29
villages in Andhra Pradesh.
• Groundwater games (ongoing measurement
ground water levels).
• We don’t say what to do.
2

3. Foundation for Ecological Security
• Works with more than
8000 villages.
• Provide guidance on
restoration of commons.
• Communities are
effective in solving
their own problems.
• Challenges due to
external forces (mining,
modernity)
3

4. Groundwater Use in India
• Groundwater in India accounts for more than:
– 60% of irrigated agriculture, 80% of drinking water
(World Bank, 2010)
• Increased GW Use, aquifers overdrafted
• Challenging resource dilemma
– Hidden from view
• Responses
– Watershed recharge
– Reduce GW use
• Community crop budgets

5. Instruments of the Project
• Groundwater CPR Game
• Community-wide Debriefing Meeting
• Household Survey
• Village Attributes Form

6. Treatments
• 2 Treatments (20 villages)
– Treatment 1 (10 villages)
• Participants receive cash payment based on performance in
experiment (Avg payment around 1 day’s wages)
– Treatment 2 (10 villages)
• Participants do not receive cash payments
• A flat-fee payment is made to the village (via watershed
committee)
– Control Group (9 villages)
• Household & Village Attributes Surveys only
– In each treatment village, 1 group with women, 1 with
men

7. Groundwater CPR Game
Group of 5 Participants
2 games of 10 rounds (“years”)
Each game begins with 50 units of
groundwater available
Each round, participants choose crop:
◦ A: Lower Income, Lower Water-Demand
◦ B: Higher Income, Higher Water-Demand
Groundwater recharge 5 units after each round
First game no communication; Second game with
communication

9. Community Debriefing
Full village invited
Basics of game described
Share general game results
◦ No specifics about individuals
Engage community in discussions about
◦ How this relates to own experiences and challenges farming
◦ Lessons and insights the participants gained from the
experience
◦ Possible solutions

11. Ground water levels
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
50
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Waterremaining
Round

12. Results statistical analysis
• Significant effects:
– Years in the program of NGO (-), Education (-),
Collective action (-), Area owned (-), Irrigator (+)
• Insignificant effects:
– Flat fee, Communication, Sex, Age, Caste
• Return visits:
– 1.5 years after experiments return visits were
performed.
– Measurements of mental models, interviews and
surveys, ground water measurements.
12

13. Preliminary Insights return visits
• Part of Participants indicated to look at
monetary outcomes.
• Difficulty to measure impact
• Examples of changes in strategies.
• People start putting groundwater issues on the
agenda.

14. Co-developing new versions of game
• Co-developing new versions of game:
– Quality of drinking water
– Including rainfall variability
• Scaling up use of games as participatory tool
• Other games (forestry, rangelands)

15. Discussion
• Games lead to vivid experience of collective
action challenges.
• Neutral place to discuss collective action
problems.
• Challenge mental models
• Resource for practitioners (protocols, tutorial;
www.gamesforsustainability.org)

16. Thank You