Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant: Groundwater Governance in Central India

决策者、社会科学家、政府和国际供资机构越来越多地致力于分散管理自然资源，将其作为许多发展中国家创造生计的手段。本研究探讨了印度地下水开采中社会资本与个人决策之间的关系，以解释地下水管理集体行动的出现。印度是世界上最大的地下水灌溉国，也是全球流域发展的追求者。地下水灌溉约占该国所有灌溉的60%。这项研究的基础是中央邦的流域发展和管理计划。国家赞助的流域计划在这里和该国其他地方历来被定义为地表水集水区，而忽略了地下水含水层的作用。该区域位于印度的干旱地区，脆弱的生态条件加剧了其发展挑战。这项研究的一个重要的政策含义将是确定的因素，可以成功地利用的尝试，增加"国家决策"，通过总的流域规划和民主权力下放在一个地区饱受缺水和历史欠发达。研究探讨了社会资本对集体行动和当地生计的影响。

Policy makers, social scientists, governments and international funding agencies are increasingly committed to decentralized governance for natural resources as a means of livelihood generation in much of the developing world. This research studies the relationship in India between social capital and individual decision making on groundwater extraction in order to explain the emergence of collective action for groundwater management. India is the largest groundwater irrigator and pursuer of watershed based development globally. Groundwater irrigation accounts for approximately 60 percent of all irrigation in the country. The base for this research is the watershed development and management program of the state of Madhya Pradesh. State sponsored watershed plans here and elsewhere in the country have historically been defined in terms of surface water catchments while ignoring the role of groundwater aquifers. Set in the drylands of India, the development challenges of this region are exacerbated by its fragile ecological conditions. An important policy implication of this study will be identification of factors that can be harnessed successfully by the attempt at increased "state making" through total watershed planning and democratic decentralization in a region plagued by water scarcity and historic underdevelopment. The research explores the influence of social capital on collective action and local livelihoods.