Ground Water Game

The game simulates the challenge of many Indian farmers to decide on the use of groundwater. Groundwater is a shared resource with a dispersed, mobile nature, creating difficulties in observing flows and extractions. These factors have posed challenges for both state and community regulation. Increasing proliferation of deep bore wells along with injudicious water use and shifts towards water intensive crops are widely observed. While groundwater is a part of an aquifer system and is a shared resource, households accessing groundwater for irrigation, drinking and cooking tend to believe it as a private resource. As a result, groundwater levels in many areas of India are falling, particularly in hard rock aquifers.