ABSTRACT
Water is one of the most contested natural resources the world over. Its use and management often represent classic common-pool resource dilemmas, resulting in its overuse, exploitation, and pollution. Communities have long managed natural resources, including water, and numerous cases of shared water management have been documented. However, changing human–nature relationships, property regimes, and political–economic environments have posed challenges to the sustenance of these practices. Effective governance of common-pool resources like water is further challenged by collective action problems where individuals’ goals conflict with the goals of the collective. How can communities overcome collective action problems to evolve strategies for the self-regulation of water? This chapter discusses the use of experimental games as a potential tool to strengthen shared management of resources, including water.
