GROUNDWATER INSTITUTIONS AND MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD

Abstract

Based on a literature review, the paper analyses groundwater management problems in the urban and the agricultural setting in the developing world. It is argued that in both settings groundwater rights can neither be established nor enforced. Groundwater rights are based on land rights and the economic capacity of the user to follow the falling groundwater table. The connection of groundwater access rights to land rights and economic capacity may cause social instability and could lead to further depletion of the resource.