The paracommons of competition for resource savings: Irrigation water conservation redistributes water between irrigation, nature, and society

• Published in: Resources, conservation and recycling Vol. 198; p. 107195
• Main Authors: Lankford, Bruce A, Scott, Christopher A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.11.2023
• Subjects: Allocation; Commons; Irrigation efficiency; Rebound paradox; Savings; Water competition; Rebound paradox; Water competition; Savings; Allocation; Commons; Irrigation efficiency
• ISSN: 0921-3449; 1879-0658
• DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2023.107195

•A paracommons is a commons of water redistribution following irrigation water conservation.•Four paracommoners vie for these gains; the proprietor, neighbour, nature and society.•We demonstrate how changes in water management redistribute water to paracommoners.•Water gains usually accrue to the proprietor and neighbour, less to nature and society.•The paracommons provides insights on governing water conservation and its effects. Based on understandings of a natural resource commons, we examine the competition for redistributed irrigation water following water conservation. A ‘paracommons’ is characterised by an interconnected hydrology whereby changes to a proprietor's water management alters its distribution into different fractions/dispositions thereby adjusting water allocations to the four paracommoners; including the proprietor conserving water, an immediate neighbour, society and nature. The topic is important given the volumes potentially involved in irrigation savings; for example, a 15% reduction in the annual water depletion of an irrigation area of 30,000 hectares can notionally meet the domestic demands of one million people at 150 l/day/pp. However, this illustration, seeming to indicate that water conservation results in sizeable predictable outcomes, hides how water savings are captured by, or flow to, a paracommoner within the interlinked system. Using data from Mendoza, Argentina, we employ a model to examine 12 scenarios of conservation-driven water reallocation among paracommoners, and conclude with generalizable lessons. [Display omitted]