Transitioning out of Open Access: A Closer Look at Institutions for Management of Groundwater Rights in France, California, and Spain

Abstract

Groundwater forms the invisible, subsurface part of the hydrological cycle, playing a vital role for maintaining base flows of rivers during the dry seasons. It is also a vital source of water for modern economies, accounting for 25% of total water extraction worldwide and a quarter of the irrigation water used to grow the world's food (Aquastat, 2016). Yet, aquifers are being over-exploited at an alarming rate in many regions around the world-a situation that is expected to worsen under climate change as recharge rates will be increasingly affected (Famiglietti, 2014;Taylor et al., 2013). Groundwater depletion contributes to the decisions by water managers to "close" access to water resources in aquifers and river basins (Molle et al., 2010). As societal and environmental needs cannot be met for at least part of the year, water managers must deal with complex trade-offs between economic interests, livelihoods, and environmental priorities.To tackle overexploitation, groundwater management is progressively shifting from an open-access regime of water resource extraction to one of regulated access all over the world (Giordano et al., 2009;Shah, 2009). Regulated access typically relies on setting a sustainable flow rate or volumetric cap on total water extraction, and reducing and maintaining extractions at or below that cap (Rinaudo et al., 2020). It can also rely on a pigouvian tax or restrictions imposed when sustainability limits are reached (for example, groundwater threshold levels). The core issue when closing access to water resources becomes how to best allocate limited water supplies between competing users, and between users and the environment. It involves setting up processes and mechanisms which enable social actors to share water according to a recognized set of values and priorities.Much academic debate has focused on the question of who should control or supervise allocation decision-making, with no conclusive outcome as to whether state or community approaches are preferable (Bruns et al., 2005;Rinaudo et al., 2019). On the one hand, state approaches appear more accountable, but they have usually failed to effectively reduce groundwater use to sustainable levels (Molle & Closas, 2020b). On the other hand, community approaches appear more legitimate, at least to the regulated. They have been most effective where the community had a social basis for collective action, for example a common

Introduction

“…defining spatial and temporal conditions to access and extract water) and on the rights to access and use the resource by excluding specific types of water uses, and controlling how rights to access and use the resource can be transferred between users. Who will be empowered with the right to manage, alienate or transfer water is a key question which will influence the effectiveness of any allocation regime (Ostrom, 1990;Rouillard et al, 2021).…”

Transitioning away from open access: lessons learnt from a comparative analysis of water allocation regimes worldwide

“…They can be captured by specific interests (Lopez-Gunn & Cortina, 2006) and fail to achieve environmentally sustainable management of the resource (see e.g. Chapter 2, Rouillard et al, 2021). Hence, a key question is how to create institutions that build on the synergies between state and community control, rather than seeing them as antagonistic.…”

Introduction to Special Section: The Quest for Sustainability of Heavily Stressed Aquifers at Regional to Global Scales

“…A key question is: How are management mechanisms evolving to address the overdrafting of groundwater resources? Rouillard et al (2021) present a comparative analysis of co-management mechanisms that have been independently developed in France, Spain, and the state of California.…”

“…Rouillard et al. (2021) present a comparative analysis of co‐management mechanisms that have been independently developed in France, Spain, and the state of California.…”