How did we get here? The evolution of a polycentric system of groundwater governance

Polycentric systems are widespread globally and studied extensively, but cross-sectional studies are more prominent than longitudinal studies, and limited attention has been paid to how polycentric systems develop. We present an evolutionary framework to help identify the dynamic factors that shape polycentric system variations and that drive particular trajectories of polycentric formation. Building on prior work, we argue that polycentric institutions for resource management emerge out of spatially delimited conflicts over resource use and the externalities that they entail. Our perspective points to the characteristics and conditions of the resource itself as a starting point that crescively shapes landscape-level patterns of resource use. We illustrate this process through a case study of the evolution of a polycentric system in California’s San Gabriel River Watershed. The study found a relationship between pronounced hydrologic linkages and stronger institutional linkages, suggesting that the physical characteristics of common-pool resources are one driver of subsequent institutional linkages. We also found that the impacts from resource use leads to both conflict and cooperation between basin users that shapes institutional formation and subsequent institutional interactions. This points to user impacts as a second important driver of polycentric formation over time. A better understanding of the evolutionary process of polycentric formation can illuminate opportunities to develop more cooperative relationships that support sustainable groundwater management.

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