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.
