UC Santa Barbara

Principles of sustainable ground-water exploitation are presented in this paper. The renewable and inappropriable nature of ground water is examined in light of the process of recharge. An example illustrates the interplay among ground-water extraction, recharge, natural recharge, and storage. It demonstrates the aquifer-specific characteristics of overdraft and replenishment, which are driven by climatic variability and the rate of ground-water mining. A second example uses game theoretic methodology to quantify the roles of cooperation and non-cooperation on ground-water extraction. The economic and environmental advantages of cooperative ground-water extraction are demonstrated with data from a coastal aquifer. © 2002 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.