Groundwater management in Nebraska: Governing the commons through local resource districts

Abstract

In many areas of the Great Plains, a large share of the responsibility for establishing groundwater use and access controls rests with local resource districts. Many policy observers identify local inaction as a contributing cause to the rapid depletion of groundwater supplies in the region. Yet, the charge that local resource districts are incapable of effective resource management may be exaggerated. This paper describes a comprehensive groundwater control program established by Nebraska's Upper Republican Natural Resource District (URNRD). An analysis of the rule-making behavior of this district identifies a variety of factors which facilitated self-regulation.