Managing groundwater as a common-pool resource: an Australian case study Ashutosh Sarker a, *, Claudia Baldwin b and Helen Ross a a School of Integrative Systems, The University of Queensland, Gatton Campus, Gatton Qld 4343, Australia. *Corresponding author. E-mail: asarker@interchange.ubc.ca b University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, Qld 4558, Australia Abstract Over-appropriation and degradation of groundwater can result from lack of recognition of, and inappropriate arrangements for, managing groundwater as a common-pool resource. An irrigators group in the Lockyer Valley, South-East Queensland, Australia and the Queensland government are currently working together to address over- exploitation of groundwater through a co-management model designed to be nested within the state and national water reform framework. This paper applies Ostrom’s design principles for common-pool resource governance to this proposed co-management framework to strengthen the approach. Keywords: Collaboration; Co-management; Common-pool resource; Design principles; Groundwater; Water resources 1. Introduction Unrestricted access to groundwater has resulted in unsustainable use in the Lockyer Valley—a highly fertile horticulture and fodder growing area located about 80 kilometres west of Brisbane in South-East Queensland, Australia. The situation has been exacerbated by several years of drought. The Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Water (DNRW) 1 and the local irrigators organisation, the Lockyer Water Users Forum (LWUF), are exploring co-management within a regulatory framework to solve groundwater over-extraction problems in the Valley (DNRM, 2005a, pp. 4 – 5). While there appears to be agreement on the long-term goal of sustainable use of groundwater, some important differences in perspective have been revealed during discussions on the scope of the co-management model in the 1 This organisation has changed names during the period considered here. In referencing, we use the name extant at the time of each publication cited. When referring to the organisation in the text, the name current at the time of paper submission is used. doi: 10.2166/wp.2009.076 Water Policy 11 (2009) 598–614 q IWA Publishing 2009 Downloaded from https://iwaponline.com/wp/article-pdf/11/5/598/406711/598.pdf by guest on 26 May 2020