The co-evolution of collective groundwater management: understanding the interdependencies between user-based organizations, remote sensing and state agency support in the La Mancha Oriental Aquifer, Spain

Abstract Groundwater governance is a challenge in most arid and semi-arid areas of the world. In many aquifers, groundwater extraction exceeds natural recharge, leading to steady aquifer declines with negative consequences for the social, agricultural and ecological systems that depend on these aquifers. In this article we analyze how in the semi-arid the La Mancha Eastern Aquifer, Spain, organized groundwater users, in close collaboration with knowledge institutes and water authorities, have developed a governance system that ensures aquifer sustainability. Our analysis shows that the use of tempo-spatially explicit data generated through remote sensing technologies co-evolved with the development of a user-based groundwater management institution, and a state agency support framework into an effective co-governance approach for regulating groundwater use in the agricultural sector. This research highlights the importance of socio-technical co-creation for the establishment of effective groundwater governance systems that build on, and are embedded in, user-based organizations that are supported by an enabling institutional environment.