In order to smooth the availability of water and address water scarcity, shared irrigation infrastructure is constructed in many irrigation systems. However, maintaining contributions to shared infrastructure has grown increasingly challenging as private infrastructure, such as groundwater pumps, have become attractive substitutes. This problem is especially acute in the semiarid regions of South Asia. We model South Indian tank irrigation systems as an example of a coupled infrastructure system that captures these real-world challenges. We developed a replicator dynamic model to analyze the interactions of multiple policy instruments to address interlinked appropriation and provisioning dilemmas in a coupled infrastructure system. We demonstrate that a fixed fee levied on groundwater users combined with highly differentiated fees on tank users can improve the provision of the shared tank significantly, yield higher profits, and greater equality of livelihoods. However, the presence of private infrastructure limits the ability to credibly implement sufficiently high fees. This institutional complexity is decidedly “second best” – falling well short of the outcomes available if the substitution to private infrastructure were more effectively managed.

中文翻译：

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维持耦合灌溉基础设施：应对多重困境的多种工具

为了顺畅供水和解决水资源短缺问题，许多灌溉系统都建设了共享灌溉基础设施。然而，随着地下水泵等私人基础设施成为有吸引力的替代品，保持对共享基础设施的贡献变得越来越具有挑战性。这个问题在南亚半干旱地区尤为严重。我们将南印度坦克灌溉系统建模为耦合基础设施系统的示例，该系统可应对这些现实世界的挑战。我们开发了一个复制器动态模型来分析多种政策工具的相互作用，以解决耦合基础设施系统中相互关联的拨款和供应困境。我们证明对地下水用户征收的固定费用与对水箱用户的高度差异化收费相结合，可以显着改善共享水箱的供应，产生更高的利润，并实现更大的生计平等。然而，私人基础设施的存在限制了可靠地实施足够高的费用的能力。这种制度复杂性绝对是“次优”——如果对私人基础设施的替代进行更有效的管理，则远远达不到可用的结果。