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Groundwater depletion in India: Social losses from costly well deepening

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  • Sayre, Susan Stratton
  • Taraz, Vis
Abstract
We develop a dynamic groundwater model that incorporates both groundwater pumping and investment in deeper wells and apply the model to the arid, alluvial aquifer region of Northern India that is experiencing rapid depletion. We compute the potential benefits of regulating groundwater use by comparing the net benefits of groundwater under optimal management to the net benefits under a common pool regime with two different cost structures: one with flat electricity tariffs, which are widespread in India, and a second with full marginal cost electricity pricing. Using numerical simulation, we find that the opportunity to invest in deeper wells significantly exacerbates the common pool problem and suggests the potential for large benefits (66% of common pool benefits) from optimally managing groundwater use or new drilling. Flat tariffs exacerbate the problem, but large gains (almost 23%) remain even if farms are charged the full marginal cost of electricity.

Suggested Citation

  • Sayre, Susan Stratton & Taraz, Vis, 2019. "Groundwater depletion in India: Social losses from costly well deepening," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 85-100.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeeman:v:93:y:2019:i:c:p:85-100
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jeem.2018.11.002
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    Cited by:

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    2. Disha Gupta, 2023. "Free power, irrigation, and groundwater depletion: Impact of farm electricity policy of Punjab, India," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 54(4), pages 515-541, July.
    3. Théo Benonnier & Katrin Millock & Vis Taraz, 2022. "Long-term migration trends and rising temperatures: the role of irrigation," Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(3), pages 307-330, July.
    4. Naresh Devineni & Shama Perveen & Upmanu Lall, 2022. "Solving groundwater depletion in India while achieving food security," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    5. Ghadir Asadi & Mohammad H. Mostafavi-Dehzooei, 2022. "The Role of Learning in Adaptation to Technology: The Case of Groundwater Extraction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-37, June.
    6. Rouhi Rad, Mani & Brozović, Nicholas & Foster, Timothy & Mieno, Taro, 2020. "Effects of instantaneous groundwater availability on irrigated agriculture and implications for aquifer management," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    7. Nadeem, Adeel Ahmad & Zha, Yuanyuan & Shi, Liangsheng & Zafar, Zeeshan & Ali, Shoaib & Zhang, Yufan & Altaf, Adnan Raza & Afzal, Muhammad & Zubair, Muhammad, 2023. "SAFER-ET based assessment of irrigation patterns and impacts on groundwater use in the central Punjab, Pakistan," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    8. Mitra, Archisman & Balasubramanya, Soumya & Bouwer, Roy, 2021. "Can electricity rebates modify groundwater pumping behaviours? Evidence from a pilot study in Punjab, India," 2021 Annual Meeting, August 1-3, Austin, Texas 313871, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. Jayanta Das & A. T. M. Sakiur Rahman & Tapash Mandal & Piu Saha, 2021. "Exploring driving forces of large-scale unsustainable groundwater development for irrigation in lower Ganga River basin in India," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 7289-7309, May.
    10. Archisman Mitra & Soumya Balasubramanya & Roy Brouwer, 2023. "Can cash incentives modify groundwater pumping behaviors? Evidence from an experiment in Punjab," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 105(3), pages 861-887, May.
    11. Théo Benonnier & Katrin Millock & Vis Taraz, 2019. "Climate change, migration, and irrigation," Working Papers halshs-02107098, HAL.
    12. Alotaibi, Naif M. & Scarf, Philip & Cavalcante, Cristiano A.V. & Lopes, Rodrigo S. & de Oliveira e Silva, André Luiz & Rodrigues, Augusto J.S. & Alyami, Salem A., 2023. "Modified-opportunistic inspection and the case of remote, groundwater well-heads," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 237(C).
    13. Agarwala, Meghna & Bhattacharjee, Shampa & Dasgupta, Aparajita, 2022. "Unintended consequences of Indian groundwater preservation law on crop residue burning," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    14. Vasilaky, Kathryn & Harou, Aurélie & Alfredo, Katherine & Kapur, Ishita, 2023. "What works for water conservation? Evidence from a field experiment in India," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    15. Foster, Timothy & Adhikari, Roshan & Adhikari, Subash & Justice, Scott & Tiwari, Baburam & Urfels, Anton & Krupnik, Timothy J., 2021. "Improving pumpset selection to support intensification of groundwater irrigation in the Eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    16. Kaur, S. & Pollitt, M. G., 2024. "Output vs Input subsidies in agriculture: a discrete choice experiment to estimate farmers’ preferences for rice and electricity subsidies in Punjab," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2433, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    17. Sugiyono & Bart J. Dewancker, 2020. "Study on the Domestic Water Utilization in Kota Metro, Lampung Province, Indonesia: Exploring Opportunities to Apply the Circular Economic Concepts in the Domestic Water Sector," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-23, October.

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