ABSTRACT
Conjunctive water management involves the coordinated use of ground and surface water supplies. It aims to enhance overall water supplies and guard against drought. In this article, we consider how water governance institutions affect the implementation of conjunctive management. To explain this connection, we present data from a study of conjunctive management in Arizona, California, and Colorado. We discuss how the institutional arrangements across these three states impact the transaction costs and other factors associated with conjunctive management and suggest how different institutional arrangements facilitate or impede conjunctive management.
