Abstract for: Groundwater Appropriation Game: A Dynamic Simulation Approach

This research explores the common pool resource (CPR) characteristics of groundwater resources by dynamic simulation modelling and computer gaming. Being the largest source of freshwater in the world, groundwater is deemed one of the most valuable resources. Due to the difficulty of excluding potential users and high subtractability of the benefits consumed by one user from those available to others, groundwater resource is regarded as a CPR. In this research, groundwater appropriation problem which focuses on the allocation of flow (the extracted groundwater) from the resource stock (extractable water at the aquifer bed) is investigated. When groundwater users act independently to increase their water extraction, the resulting drawdown of the water table may lead to an increase in energy costs and reduce overall, as well as individual benefits. This represents a cooperation dilemma among the irrigators, where the actors have to cooperate for the quantity and coordinate for the timing of their irrigation activity to increase their benefits. In order to study this problem, a simulation model of soil-water dynamics and crop growth, and a multiplayer computer game is developed.