Groundwater overdraft reduction through agricultural energy policy: insights from India and Mexico

Abstract

Rapid expansion of groundwater irrigation has transformed the rural economy in regions around the world, leading to significant increases in agricultural productivity and rising incomes. Farmer investment in wells and pumps has driven this expansion on the demand side; however, the supply of cheap agricultural energy—usually electrical power—is a critical though often overlooked driver of the groundwater boom. One serious outcome in numerous regions around the world has been groundwater overdraft; where pumping exceeds aquifer recharge, water tables have declined and water quality has deteriorated. India and Mexico are two of the largest users of groundwater in the world and both face critical overdraft challenges. The two countries are compared, given that electrical energy supply and pricing are primary driving forces behind groundwater pumping for irrigation in India and Mexico alike. Both countries have attempted regulatory measures to reduce groundwater overdraft. However, with low energy costs and readily available connections, there are few financial disincentives for farmers to limit pumping. The linkages between energy and irrigation are reviewed, comparing and contrasting India and Mexico. Examples of legal, regulatory and participatory approaches to groundwater management are assessed. Finally, the implications of linking electrical power pricing and supply with ongoing groundwater regulation efforts in both countries are explored.

Notes

Correspondence address: Christopher A. Scott, International Water Management Institute, South Asia Regional Office, c/o ICRISAT, Patancheru 502 324, Andhra Pradesh, India. Email: [email protected]

Up until the 1970s, the State Electricity Boards (SEBs) charged agricultural users based on metered consumption; however, as the number of tube wells increased, SEBs found it impossible to manage metering and billing, particularly the transaction costs associated with tampering of meters, pilferage, under‐billing, corruption at the level of meter readers, and the costs of maintaining a large staff of meter readers. As a result, during the 1970s and 1980s, agricultural power tariffs were converted to a flat rate based on the horsepower rating of the pump. Although falsification of horsepower rating still proved to be a problem, the switch to flat rate eliminated the financial and transaction costs of metering. In the ensuing two decades, however, tariffs stagnated or fell in real terms as agricultural power became the centerpiece of rural political largesse. Nevertheless, this would inevitably have been the case for metered tariffs as well. International financial institutions like the World Bank have played roles in electricity supply and pricing that are often contradictory. For example, the World Bank designed and implemented a project on Groundwater Irrigation in Uttar Pradesh, funded by The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), that contained a loan stipulation for a dedicated electricity supply line to the pumps so that farmers could pump 24 hours a day uninterrupted. The loan further stipulated that farmers should receive highly subsidized energy for pumping, an unsustainable move for which the country is being criticized by the same donors at present.

Water is considered the property of the nation; however, there is some definitional ambiguity regarding ‘state’ waters (surface sources that originate and are depleted within a state). All groundwater is national property.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christopher A. Scott

Correspondence address: Christopher A. Scott, International Water Management Institute, South Asia Regional Office, c/o ICRISAT, Patancheru 502 324, Andhra Pradesh, India. Email: [email protected]