Primary Outcomes (explanation)
Note: II = Individual Interview, KII=Key Informant Interview; FGD=Focus Group Discussion data
Hypothesis 1: Outcome related to better system understanding (individual and group levels):
Our main outcome variable is an index:
• iUnderstanding = sum of iBenefitCoordination, iFamersInteract, and iUseAffectsGW
Where the indicator takes on a 1 if the individual responds that they “Agree” or “Strongly agree”:
• iBenefitCoordination: II7.4 Coordinating and regulating water management in the community is for the benefit of everybody in the community.
• iFamersInteract: II7.5 One farmer’s crop choice affects other farmers in the community?
• iUseAffectsGW: II7.6 Our ground water use now will affect the availability of the resource in the future for the community as a whole.
Hypothesis 2: Outcomes related to stronger norms for sustainable water management (individual and collective):
Our main outcome variable is an index:
iNorms = Sum of iRulesGroundwater, iCooperateToInvest, iNoRulesGroundwaterOwnLand, iAllAccessSurface, iSupportGovtRules, iSupportGvtPolicy1, iSupportGvtPolicy2.
Where for the following 2 indicators =1 if the individual responds that they “Agree” or “Strongly agree”:
• iRulesGroundwater: II7.8 Community members should make rules about use of groundwater, such as about well locations and depth, or when, where, or how much groundwater may be used, for what purposes
• iCooperateToInvest: II7.10 Community members should cooperate to invest in the establishment and maintenance of important community water structures such as dams
The following 2 indicators =1 if the individual responds that they "Disagree" or "Strongly disagree":
• iNoRulesGroundwaterOwnLand: II7.7 Farmers should be allowed to use the groundwater under their land without any rules and restrictions
• iAllAccessSurface: II7.9 Anybody who can access surface water bodies, such as streams or tanks, should be able to use water without any rules or restrictions
The following 3 indicators = 1 if the individual responds that they "Support" or "Strongly support"
• iSupportGovtRules: II6.11 Would you support if the government introduced new rules restricting farmers water use?
• iSupportGvtPolicy1: II6.12 Would you support a government policy which increases electricity charges for agricultural use, esp. pumping of water?
• iSupportGvtPolicy2: II6.13 Would you support a government policy which increases electricity charges for agricultural use, esp. pumping of water if at the same time it increased the minimum support price for water efficient crops?
Hypothesis 3: Outcomes related to women more involved in water-related decision-making (collective level):
• iWWCropChoice = II3.31 Who decides which crop to grow? For women = 1 if answers 1 (I alone), 3 (Jointly with spouse), 4 (jointly with other family members); 5 (Jointly with other community members); =0 if answers 2 (spouse alone); missing if =999 (Refuse to answer) [Dummy variable]
• iMWCropChoice = II3.31 Who decides which crop to grow? For men = 1 if answers 2 (Spouse alone) or 3 (Jointly with spouse), 6 (jointly with other female family members); 7 (Jointly with other female community members); =0 if answers 2 (I alone); missing if =999 (Refuse to answer) [Dummy variable]
Hypothesis 4: Outcomes related to water management rules (individual and collective levels):
Our main individual outcome variable is an index:
• iRules = sum of answers “Agree” or “Strongly agree” to iRulesPrioritizeGwater, iRulesPrioritizeSwater, iRulesFarmerCropCh [Range 0-3].
Where
• iRulesPrioritizeGwater: II7.1 In our community there are rules with regard to prioritizing groundwater use.
• iRulesPrioritizeSwater: II 7.2 In our community there are rules with regard to prioritizing surface water use.
• iRulesFarmerCropCh: II 7.3 In our community are some arrangements or rules related to individual farmer’s crop choices.
Our main community outcome variable is an index:
• cRules1 = sum of answers of “yes” the outcome indicators : cRulesVillageComm, cRulesDigWells, cRulesGrowCrops, cRulesWaterShortage [Range 0-4].
Where
• cRulesVillageComm: KII 9.1 Are there any village committees or other community organizations which deal with the management of groundwater or surface water resources?
• cRulesDigWells: KII 10.1 Are there any rules about who can dig or deepen wells to use groundwater under their land in this community, or what kind of pumps they can use?
• cRulesGrowCrops: KII 10.5 Are there any rules about what crops they can grow under groundwater irrigation in any season?
• cRulesWaterShortage: KII 11.8 In cases of water shortage (e.g. drought years or dry spells), are there discussions in the community on individual farmer’s crop choices?
Hypothesis 5: Outcomes related to better rule enforcement of water management rules (collective level).
3 outcome indicators= 1 if the individual responds that they “Agree” or “Strongly agree”:
• cCropRulesEnforced: KII 10.7 Are these rules [related to what crops they can grow under groundwater irrigation in any season] enforced? [see if this was asked for each rule]
• cOperationRulesEnforced: KII 11.19 Are the rules related to operation or maintenance of the water harvesting structures enforced?
• cIrrigationRulesEnforced: KII 11.4 Are rules related to individual farmer’s crop choices from surface irrigation enforced?
Hypothesis 6: Outcomes related to more likely to invest in water harvesting structures or leverage public funds for the purpose (collective level).
Outcome indicator=1 if the individual responds “Yes”.
• cMaintainKII = KII 11.10 Has water harvesting structures (tank, stop dam, or check dam) in your community received any maintenance within the last 12 months? [Dummy variable]
Hypothesis 7: Outcome related to conditions of water-related infrastructure (collective level)
Our main individual outcome variable is an index:
• cWHPoor = Sum of the community-level variables cReducedCap1, cReducedCap2, cStateEarthWalls [Range 3-15, where higher values indicate good state of infrastructure]
Where
• cReducedCap1: KII 14.2 Capacity reduced due to siltation [Range 1= Very much, 5= Not]
• cReducedCap2: KII 14.3Capacity reduced due to overgrowing vegetation [Range 1= Very much, 5= Not]
• cStateEarthWalls: KII 14.4 State of the earth walls [Range 1= Very poor, 5= Very good]
Hypothesis 8: Outcome related to crop choice with lower water consumption leading to irrigated water savings (collective level)
Our primary outcome indicator is from crop water budgeting:
• cRabiSavings = CWB_X – CWB_AB [in TCM] where
• CWB_X = Total water requirement as per farmers' own plan
• CWB_AB = Total water requirement as per revised plan
Hypothesis 9: Outcome related to depletion of water table (collective level)
Outcome indicators from habitation records:
CRabiWaterTableChangey = CWaterTablePreRabiy - CWaterTablePostRabi y as an estimate of the change in water table during Rabi
Where
CWaterTablePreRabiy = average depth of monitoring wells as recorded in habitation records at start of Rabi seasons in the two years before the intervention started.
CWaterTablePostRabi y = average depth of monitoring wells as recorded in habitation records at start of Rabi seasons in the two years after the intervention was completed.
We can compare CRabiWaterTableChangey between treatment and control communities in the 2022/23 Rabi season, as well as to compare the treatment communities in 2022/23 with the Rabi season water table changes in previous years, controlling for local rainfall in the Rabi and previous Kharif season and dummy variables for years to control for other year-specific factors.
However, the effect of the intervention on the water table may take years to appear. Thus, we suggest that this be monitored on a long-term basis.