Abstract

Summary Failure to effectively coordinate opportunistic extractions by individual well owners with groundwater recharge has led to increasing Indian groundwater scarcity, affecting future opportunities for improved rural livelihoods and household wellbeing. Investigation of the relationship between groundwater institutions, management attitudes and subjective wellbeing of Indian rural households has substantial potential to reveal initiatives that jointly improve aquifer sustainability and household wellbeing, yet has received limited attention. Subjective wellbeing was calculated as an index of dissatisfaction (IDS), revealing ranked importance and the level of dissatisfaction of individual factors selected from economic, environmental and social/relational wellbeing dimensions. High economic and environmental IDS scores were calculated for respondents in the Meghraj and Dharta watersheds, India, respectively. We tested an exploratory hypothesis that observed IDS differences were correlated with differences in life circumstances, (household attributes, income and assets) and psychological disposition (life guiding values and willingness to adapt). The distribution of ranked IDS wellbeing scores was estimated across four statistically distinct clusters reflecting attitudes towards sustainable groundwater management and practice. Decision tree analysis identified significantly different correlates of overall wellbeing specific to cluster membership and the watershed, supporting the research hypothesis. High income IDS scores were weakly correlated with actual total household income ( r

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.