Application of game theory for a groundwater conflict in Mexico

Exploitation of scarce water resources, particularly in areas of high demand, inevitably produces conflict among disparate stakeholders, each of whom may have their own set of priorities. In order to arrive at a socially acceptable compromise, the decision-makers should seek an optimal trade-off between conflicting objectives that reflect the priorities of the various stakeholders. In this study, game theory was applied to a multiobjective conflict problem for the Alto Rio Lerma Irrigation District, located in the state of Guanajuato in Mexico, where economic benefits from agricultural production should be balanced with associated negative environmental impacts. The short period of rainfall in this area, combined with high groundwater withdrawals from irrigation wells, has produced severe aquifer overdraft. In addition, current agricultural practices of applying high loads of fertilizers and pesticides have contaminated regions of the aquifer. The net economic benefit to this agricultural region in the short-term lies with increasing crop yields, which requires large pumping extractions for irrigation as well as high chemical loading. In the longer term, this can produce economic loss due to higher pumping costs (i.e., higher lift requirements), or even loss of the aquifer as a viable source of water. Negative environmental impacts include continued diminishment of groundwater quality, and declining groundwater levels in the basin, which can damage surface water systems that support environmental habitats. The two primary stakeholders or players, the farmers in the irrigation district and the community at large, must find an optimal balance between positive economic benefits and negative environmental impacts. In this paper, game theory was applied to find the optimal solution between the two conflicting objectives among 12 alternative groundwater extraction scenarios. Different attributes were used to quantify the benefits and costs of the two objectives, and, following generation of the Pareto frontier or trade-off curve, four conflict resolution methods were then applied.     

Comparison of Aquifer Sustainability Under Groundwater Administrations in Oklahoma and Texas1

Mittelstet, Aaron R., Michael D. Smolen, Garey A. Fox, and Damian C. Adams, 2011. Comparison of Aquifer Sustainability Under Groundwater Administrations in Oklahoma and Texas. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 1‐8. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00524.x Abstract: We compared two approaches to administration of groundwater law on a hydrologic model of the North Canadian River, an alluvial aquifer in northwestern Oklahoma. Oklahoma limits pumping rates to retain 50% aquifer saturated thickness after 20 years of groundwater use. The Texas Panhandle Groundwater Conservation District’s (GCD) rules limit pumping to a rate that consumes no more than 50% of saturated thickness in 50 years, with reevaluation and readjustment of permits every 5 years. Using a hydrologic model (MODFLOW), we simulated river‐groundwater interaction and aquifer dynamics under increasing levels of “development” (i.e., increasing groundwater withdrawals). Oklahoma’s approach initially would limit groundwater extraction more than the GCD approach, but the GCD approach would be more protective in the long run. Under Oklahoma rules more than half of aquifer storage would be depleted when development reaches 65%. Reevaluation of permits under the Texas Panhandle GCD approach would severely limit pumping as the 50% level is approached. Both Oklahoma and Texas Panhandle GCD approaches would deplete alluvial base flow at approximately 10% development. Results suggest periodic review of permits could protect aquifer storage and river base flow. Modeling total aquifer storage is more sensitive to recharge rate and aquifer hydraulic conductivity than to specific yield, while river leakage is most sensitive to aquifer hydraulic conductivity followed by specific yield.     

VARIABILITY IN ADJUSTMENT PREFERENCES TO GROUNDWATER DEPLETION IN THE AMERICAN HIGH PLAINS1

ABSTRACT: This paper explores the adjustments and institutions that residents of the American High Plains prefer in coping with the depletion of the High Plains (Ogallaia) aquifer. The authors identify 48 possible adjustments and report on public preferences for them as determined from a mail survey of 956 respondents in 14 counties. For purposes of analysis, the adjustments are categorized into five groups: user practices, management policies, financial incentives and disincentives, technological fixes, and other. Preferences were also determined among five levels of government to enforce each of the adjustments. Adjustments associated with user conservation practices were generally most preferred while financial incentives and disincentives were least favored. Local groundwater management agencies were the most favored level of institution to administer conservation adjustments followed by the state, county, and federal levels. The most preferred option for 20 adjustments was that no agency should be involved. Respondents in agriculturally related occupations showed less support for water conservation laws and gave greater acceptance to the continuance of existing methods. Irrigators viewed the increasing cost of lifting water as a more serious problem than the depletion of groundwater.     

Water transfers,agriculture, and groundwater management: a dynamic economic analysis

Water transfers from agricultural to urban and environmental uses will likely become increasingly common worldwide. Many agricultural areas rely heavily on underlying groundwater aquifers. Out-of-basin surface water transfers will increase aquifer withdrawals while reducing recharge, thereby altering the evolution of the agricultural production/groundwater aquifer system over time. An empirical analysis is conducted for a representative region in California. Transfers via involuntary surface water cutbacks tilt the extraction schedule and lower water table levels and net benefits over time. The effects are large for the water table but more modest for the other variables. Break-even prices are calculated for voluntary quantity contract transfers at the district level. These prices differ considerably from what might be calculated under a static analysis which ignores water table dynamics. Canal-lining implies that districts may gain in the short-run but lose over time if all the reduction in conveyance losses is transferred outside the district. Water markets imply an evolving quantity of exported flows over time and a reduction in basin net benefits under common property usage. Most aquifers underlying major agricultural regions are currently unregulated. Out-of-basin surface water transfers increase stress on the aquifer and management benefits can increase substantially in percentage terms but overall continue to remain small. Conversely, we find that economically efficient management can mitigate some of the adverse consequences of transfers, but not in many circumstances or by much. Management significantly reduced the water table impacts of cutbacks but not annual net benefit impacts. Neither the break-even prices nor the canal-lining impacts were altered by much. The most significant difference is that regional water users gain from water markets under efficient management.     

Integrated Water Resources Management: From general principles to its implementation by the state. The case of Burkina Faso

In 2000, the Global Water Partnership (GWP) as the main advocate of the concept of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), proposed a definition that is now the reference, despite the ambiguity that persists in its interpretation. At the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development, the State representatives committed themselves to launch "plans for integrated water resources management and water efficiency by 2005". Some states immediately honoured this commitment by adopting new national water policies inspired by IWRM principles. Do these implementation plans respond to all the challenges of the IWRM? Or have these states simply reorganized their water resource policies to give an impression of conforming to the framework? In response to these questions, we present a history of IWRM and its conflicting interpretations followed by a case study of reforms enacted in Burkina Faso, to highlight some problems which are inherent to IWRM and how IWRM was transposed on a national scale.     

BRACKISH GROUNDWATER DESALINATION: A COMMUNITY'S SOLUTION TO WATER SUPPLY AND AQUIFER PROTECTION1

The City of Cape May, New Jersey, draws its primary water supply from the Cohansey Aquifer, a unit serving residential, community, and industrial users throughout the Coastal Plain. By the year 2000, projected population growth will impose a peak water demand beyond available supplies. In addition, regional over-pumping threatens the Cohansey with saltwater intrusion, placing the city wells at risk by 1998. In the early-to mid 1990s, three broad categories of water-supply alternatives were evaluated by regional, state, and federal agencies — additional pumping from the Cohansey, conjunctive use of the Cohansey with other aquifers, and desalination of brackish groundwater. An approach was adopted in 1996 which derives up to 2 MGD from desalination of brackish groundwater, with the remaining peak demand satisfied by short-term pumpage from existing wells in the Cohansey. The first of two wells has been completed, yielding 1.4 MGD of brackish groundwater. Similar performance from the second well will exceed the design goal. When the initial system comes on line during the summer of 1998, New Jersey will have its first public water supply derived from desalinated groundwater. The use of desalinated groundwater balances competing demands for water resources in the southern Cape Region of New Jersey, allowing continued economic growth while reducing human impacts on a threatened aquifer.     

Pre‐Development Groundwater Conditions Surrounding Memphis,Tennessee: Controversy and Unexpected Outcomes

Reliance on groundwater resources by differing governing bodies can create transboundary disputes raising questions of ownership and apportionment as the resource becomes strained through overuse or threatened by contamination. Transboundary disputes exist at varying scales, from conflicts between countries to smaller disputes between intrastate jurisdictions. In 2005 within the United States, the State of Mississippi filed a lawsuit against its political neighbor and their utility, the City of Memphis and Memphis Light, Gas, and Water, for groundwater deemed owned by the State of Mississippi to be wrongfully diverted across the state line and into Tennessee by the defendants. The basis of the lawsuit was potentiometric maps of groundwater levels for the Memphis aquifer that showed under suggested pre‐development conditions no flow occurring across the Mississippi‐Tennessee state line, but subsequent historic potentiometric maps show a cone of depression under the City of Memphis with a clear northwesterly gradient from Mississippi into Tennessee. The suggested pre‐development conditions were derived from limited groundwater level observations between 41 and 74 years post‐development. A new pre‐development map is constructed using historic records that range 0‐17 years post‐development that shows the natural flow is northwesterly from Mississippi into Tennessee and transboundary groundwater quantities have actually decreased since pre‐development conditions.     

Groundwater protection on Long Island,New York: a study in management capacity

Through their powers to regulate land use and their responsibilities for public water supply, local governments are critical players in groundwater protection. Unfortunately, the demands of groundwater protection are high, and many local governments do not have the ability or capacity to develop and implement appropriate management strategies. This paper analyzes groundwater protection experiences on Long Island, New York, a place where groundwater dependence is high, and threats to groundwater are serious. Long Island's experiences highlight the need to approach capacity building for groundwater protection broadly, concentrating on factors such as political commitment and citizen support; enhancement of local technical competency through linkages and support from state and federal governments; and strengthening of institutional arrangements at all levels.     

Status and trends in EFlows in southern Africa

Environmental Flows (EFlows) are defined as the quantity, timing and quality of the flow of water, sediment and biota necessary to sustain freshwater and estuarine ecosystems, and the human livelihoods and well-being that depend on these ecosystems. As such they are a vital component of Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM). A recent survey found that, in general, Africa lags behind schedule with respect to the global SDG Target 6.5 to implement IWRM at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate. This web-based review explores progress made in EFlows Assessments and implementing their outcomes in southern Africa. It outlines the apparent impetus to the uptake of EFlows provided by legislation, common funding mechanisms for EFlows assessment and evolving trends in EFlows assessment. It also highlights instances of implementation of EFlows in both in-country and transboundary settings.     

Critical review of Integrated Water Resources Management: Moving beyond polarised discourse

Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) emerged as a popular concept in the water sector in the 20th century. From a highly techno-centric approach in the past, it has taken a new turn embracing Habermasian communicative rationality as a place-based nexus for multiple actors to consensually and communicatively integrate decisions in a hydrological unit. The 'how to integrate' approach had remarkable appeal worldwide in promoting authentic participation of all stakeholders. However, critics argue that the domain of water resource management is a political process of contestation and negotiation; the emphasis is on complexities, contextuality, power dynamics and the importance of analysing real world situations. They demonstrate 'how integration cannot be achieved' given the power dynamics in social interactions. These apparently contradictory discourses draw on different theoretical paradigms and polarise the discourse on IWRM, without offering constructive alternatives. To this end, this paper offers an option to complement this polarised discourse by examining 'how integration actually does take place' in a strategic context thereby facilitating consensual decisions to integrate water management for a sustainable future.     

Water Quality Improvement Policies: Lessons Learned from the Implementation of Proposition O in Los Angeles,California

This article evaluates the implementation of Proposition O, a stormwater cleanup measure, in Los Angeles, California. The measure was intended to create new funding to help the city comply with the Total Maximum Daily Load requirements under the federal Clean Water Act. Funding water quality objectives through a bond measure was necessary because the city had insufficient revenues to deploy new projects in its budget. The bond initiative required a supermajority vote (two-thirds of the voters), hence the public had to be convinced that such funding both was necessary and would be effective. The bond act language included project solicitation from the public, as well as multiple benefit objectives. Accordingly, nonprofit organizations mobilized to present projects that included creating new parks, using schoolyards for flood control and groundwater recharge, and replacing parking lots with permeable surfaces, among others. Yet few, if any, of these projects were retained for funding, as the city itself also had a list of priorities and higher technical expertise in justifying them as delivering water quality improvements. Our case study of the implementation of Proposition O points to the potentially different priorities for the renovation of urban infrastructure that are held by nonprofit organizations and city agencies and the importance of structuring public processes clearly so that there are no misimpressions about funding and implementation responsibilities that can lead to disillusionment with government, especially under conditions of fiscal constraints.     

INTERSTATE AND INTERNATIONAL AQUIFERS1

Many important groundwater aquifers cross state and national boundaries. The flow of water in these aquifers is not influenced by the boundaries but may be materially influenced by mans activities on one or both sides of a boundary. Interstate and international problems may develop because of excessive groundwater lowering on one side of a boundary affecting water users on the opposite side of the line. Similarly, intensive groundwater development along a surface stream may influence the amount of surface water that flows across a boundary. A third type of problem may develop when pumping on one side of the boundary induces poor quality water into an aquifer on the other side of the boundary. Several specific interstate and international aquifer problems are briefly described.     

REVISITING STATE WATER RIGHTS LAW1

ABSTRACT: Water resources professionals should be engaged actively in revisiting state water rights law. During the past four years, sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers with cooperation of other water resources organizations, over a hundred engineers, hydrologists, geographers, lawyers, administrators, educators, water users, and other persons interested in water law have been preparing a Model State Water Rights Code. Preliminary drafts of the Model Code have been considered in four states, and its provisions will be disseminated nationally to state legislators and other policy makers upon formal publication in September 1994. The Model Code gathers the best provisions from state water laws into comprehensive regulated riparian and prior appropriation provisions, includes commentaries explaining how its textual sections address water resources planning and management issues, and references similar language in current state water statutes. The goal of the Code Project is to provide materials which will assist legislators so they can enact effective, efficient, and equitable water laws. In the future, the Code drafting group will expand its efforts to develop legal guidelines for allocating shared transboundary water resources, water quality law, federal water statutes, and other water resources legal issues.     

Antartic minerals: A common heritage approach

The potential value of Antarctic mineral resources, including petroleum, has already spurred efforts by the Antarctic Treaty powers to establish a legal and technical regime for minerals. Management and control of Antarctic minerals need not, however, be left to the countries that have staked territorial claims or otherwise been active in Antarctica. Possible mineral regimes include open access (or first-come, first-served) and a variety of multilateral and international approaches. This article suggests that a common heritage approach would be most suitable for Antarctica and, despite opposition to such an approach among the Antarctic Treaty powers, would be a practical solution to the mineral development issue. The time for international organizations to act to establish such a common heritage regime is, however, growing short.     

UNCALCULATED IMPACTS OF UNSUSTAINABLE AQUIFER YIELD INCLUDING EVIDENCE OF SUBSURFACE INTERBASIN FLOW1

ABSTRACT: Unsustainable withdrawals from regional aquifers have resulted in adverse impacts considerable distances from the point locations of supply wells. In one area of the southeastern (SE) Coastal Plain, conservative estimates for repair/replacement of some residential wells damaged or destroyed by unsustainable yield from the Floridan aquifer system exceeded $4 million. However, a comprehensive assessment of damage/economic loss to private property and public resources due to unsustainable yield from that regional karst aquifer has not been made. Uncalculated direct costs to home‐owners from damage attributed to those withdrawals are associated with destruction of homes from increased sinkhole formation, devalued waterfront property, and removal of diseased and dead trees. Examples of other uncalculated economic burdens resulting from unsustainable aquifer yield in the SE Coastal Plain include: (1) irreversible damage to the aquifer matrix and concomitant increased potential for groundwater contamination, (2) large‐scale wildfires with subsequent degradation of air quality, debilitation of transportation corridors, and destruction of timber, wildlife habitat and property, and (3) destruction of “protected” natural areas. This paper provides a general background of the regional Floridan aquifer system's karst characteristics, examples of known impacts resulting from ground water mining in the SE Coastal Plain, and examples of additional damage that may be related to unsustainable yield from the Upper Floridan aquifer. Costs of these impacts have not been calculated and are not reflected in the price users pay for ground water. Evidence suggests that the classic watershed management approach must be revised in areas with mined regional karst aquifers to include impacts of induced recharge from the surficial aquifer, and subsurface inter‐basin flow. Likewise, associated impacts to surface water and interrelated systems must be calculated. The true cost of groundwater mining to this and future generations should be determined using a multidisciplinary approach.     

A CRITIQUE OF WATERSHED MANAGEMENT EFFORTS IN THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI ALLUVIAL PLAIN1

ABSTRACT: Integrated watershed management in the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Plain (Delta) requires blending federal, state, and local authority. The federal government has preeminent authority over interstate navigable waters. Conversely, state and local governments have authority vital for comprehensive watershed management. In the Delta, integrating three broad legal and administrative regimes: (1) flood control, (2) agricultural watershed management, and (3) natural resources and environmental management, is vital for comprehensive intrastate watershed, and interstate river basin management. Federal Mississippi River flood control projects incorporated previous state and local efforts. Similarly, federal agricultural programs in the River's tributary headwaters adopted watershed management and were integrated into flood control efforts. These legal and administrative regimes implement national policy largely in cooperation with and through technical and financial assistance to local agencies such as levee commissions and soil and water conservation districts. This administrative infrastructure could address new national concerns such as nonpoint source pollution which require a watershed scale management approach. However, the natural resources and environmental management regime lacks a local administrative infrastructure. Many governmental and non governmental coordinating organizations have recently formed to address this shortcoming in the Delta. With federal and state leadership and support, these organizations could provide mechanisms to better integrate natural resources and environmental issues into the Delta's existing local administrative infrastructure.     

Who counts,what counts: representation and accountability in water governance in the Upper Comoé sub‐basin,Burkina Faso

This article examines the unfolding of integrated water resource management (IWRM) reforms in southwest Burkina Faso, where water resources are subject to conflicting claims by a diversity of users. We first describe the establishment a local water user committee, showing how choices regarding composition and operations grant varying levels of recognition to different stakeholders. We then discuss the implications for key dimensions of decentralized governance, namely representation and accountability. In particular we focus on: (a) how the interplay of political agendas and policy disconnects shapes the committee's viability and credibility and (b) how tensions between techno‐scientific and local knowledge affect participation and transparency. We argue that in contexts defined by contentious politics and neo‐patrimonial practices, representativeness is better ensured by the direct inclusion of user groups rather than elected officials. Though limited discretionary power, information access, and technical capabilities of committee members inhibit accountability, rural producers uphold their claims through social mobilization and reliance on local knowledge. Recognizing the opportunities offered by the country's recent democratic turn, we formulate recommendations aimed at addressing structural drivers and enabling citizen agency in decentralized water governance. At the same time, further research is needed on local people's understandings of representation and accountability, to ensure that they are involved in institutional design and practices in ways that affirm what they value and what they know.     

System Dynamics to Sustainable Water Resources Management in the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer Under Water Supply Uncertainty1

Abstract: Water supply uncertainty continues to threaten the reliability of regional water resources in the western United States. Climate variability and water dispute potentials induce water managers to develop proactive adaptive management strategies to mitigate future hydroclimate impacts. The Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer in the state of Idaho is also facing these challenges in the sense that population growth and economic development strongly depend on reliable water resources from underground storage. Drought and subsequent water conflict often drive scientific research and political agendas because water resources availability and aquifer management for a sustainable rural economy are of great interest. In this study, a system dynamics approach is applied to address dynamically complex problems with management of the aquifer and associated surface‐water and groundwater interactions. Recharge and discharge dynamics within the aquifer system are coded in an environmental modeling framework to identify long‐term behavior of aquifer responses to uncertain future hydrological variability. The research shows that the system dynamics approach is a promising modeling tool to develop sustainable water resources planning and management in a collaborative decision‐making framework and also to provide useful insights and alternative opportunities for operational management, policy support, and participatory strategic planning to mitigate future hydroclimate impacts in human dimensions.     

REGIONAL MANAGEMENT OF DEPLETED AQUIFERS1

ABSTRACT: Aquifers with pressure head seriously reduced by overdrafting are referred to as depleted. In coastal areas they may be invaded by saltwater. An obvious remedy is to reduce the rate of withdrawal to the permanently available dependable yield. This is being done now in two areas for New Jersey, under the authority of the State's Water Supply Management Act; but it has not previously been accomplished on a regional scale. The dependable yield was estimated by means of detailed hydrogeological modeling. “Water Supply Critical Areas” were delimited on the basis of piezometric pressure, drawn down 30 feet below sea level. Within the depleted area, water withdrawals must be reduced by a fixed ratio (35 to 50 percent) below the amount withdrawn during 1983. This reduction is effective as soon as al alternative source of water can be made available, usually from a surface source. Special arrangements are made whereby ground water users unconnected to the alternative source of supply can pay to withdrawn their full needs from the depleted aquifers, the money being used to purchase additional water from the new surface water source, in return for which some other user will reduce his ground water withdrawal below his reduced allocation.     

Changes in Shallow Groundwater Quality Beneath Recently Urbanized Areas in the Memphis,Tennessee Area1

Barlow, Jeannie R.B., James A. Kingsbury, and Richard H. Coupe, 2012. Changes in Shallow Groundwater Quality Beneath Recently Urbanized Areas in the Memphis, Tennessee Area. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(2): 336‐354. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00616.x Abstract: Memphis, the largest city in the state of Tennessee, and its surrounding suburbs depend on a confined aquifer, the Memphis aquifer, for drinking water. Concern over the potential for downward movement of water from an overlying shallow aquifer to the underlying Memphis aquifer provided impetus for monitoring groundwater quality within the shallow aquifer. The occurrence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrate, and pesticides in samples from the shallow well network indicate a widespread affect on water quality from the overlying urban land use. Total pesticide concentration was generally higher in more recently recharged groundwater indicating that as the proportion of recent water increases, the occurrence of pesticides related to the current urban land use also increases. Groundwater samples with nitrate concentrations greater than 1.5 mg/l and detectable concentrations of the pesticides atrazine and simazine also had higher concentrations of chloroform, a VOC primarily associated with urban land use, than in other samples. The age of the water from these wells indicates that these concentrations are most likely not representative of past agricultural use, but of more recent urban use of these chemicals. Given that the median age of water represented by the shallow well network was 21 years, a lag time likely exists between changes in land use and the occurrence of constituents related to urbanization in shallow groundwater.