IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natsus/v3y2020i12d10.1038_s41893-020-0589-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Grand theft water and the calculus of compliance

Author

Listed:
  • A. Loch

    (The University of Adelaide)

  • C. D. Pérez-Blanco

    (University of Salamanca)

  • E. Carmody

    (Environmental Defenders’ Office of New South Wales and University of New South Wales)

  • V. Felbab-Brown

    (The Brookings Institution)

  • D. Adamson

    (The University of Adelaide)

  • C. Seidl

    (The University of Adelaide)

Abstract

Water crises constitute a challenge for humanity. Uncertain supply and growing demand are driving higher water theft, particularly by agricultural users who account for approximately 70% of global use. However, research into water theft is underexplored in all disciplines. This paper provides a conceptual framework and modelling approach designed to improve understanding of both individual and institutional barriers to water theft. The framework and model explore how effective detection, prosecution, conviction and penalties can be assessed. Three case studies test the validity of our framework. Our findings suggest that while individuals and companies may be responsible for the act of theft, the phenomenon reflects a systematic failure of arrangements (political, legal, institutional, and so on). In addition, when regulators fail to understand the value of water, inadequate prescribed penalties increase the risk of theft. We invite others to test our framework, apply our model and engage in a wider conversation about water theft.

Suggested Citation

  • A. Loch & C. D. Pérez-Blanco & E. Carmody & V. Felbab-Brown & D. Adamson & C. Seidl, 2020. "Grand theft water and the calculus of compliance," Nature Sustainability, Nature, vol. 3(12), pages 1012-1018, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:3:y:2020:i:12:d:10.1038_s41893-020-0589-3
    DOI: 10.1038/s41893-020-0589-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-020-0589-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41893-020-0589-3?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sapino, Francesco & Pérez-Blanco, C. Dionisio & Gutiérrez-Martín, Carlos & García-Prats, Alberto & Pulido-Velazquez, Manuel, 2022. "Influence of crop-water production functions on the expected performance of water pricing policies in irrigated agriculture," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    2. Bolinches, Antonio & Blanco-Gutiérrez, Irene & Zubelzu, Sergio & Esteve, Paloma & Gómez-Ramos, Almudena, 2022. "A method for the prioritization of water reuse projects in agriculture irrigation," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    3. Sapino, Francesco & Hazimeh, Rim & Dionisio Pérez-Blanco, C. & Jaafar, Hadi H., 2024. "Socioeconomic impact of agricultural water reallocation policies in the Upper Litani Basin (Lebanon): a remote sensing and microeconomic ensemble forecasting approach," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 296(C).
    4. Kelly, T.D. & Foster, T. & Schultz, David M., 2023. "Assessing the value of adapting irrigation strategies within the season," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    5. Stéphanie LEYRONAS & Aurélien Dumont (COSTEA), & Olivier Petit (CLERSÉ, université d’Artois), & Quentin Ballin (AFD),, 2021. "Acting together for the Sustainable Use of Water in Agriculture," Working Paper 02545eec-73a8-41ac-a8da-e, Agence française de développement.
    6. Palomo-Hierro, Sara & Loch, Adam & Pérez-Blanco, C. Dionisio, 2022. "Improving water markets in Spain: Lesson-drawing from the Murray-Darling Basin in Australia," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    7. Batabyal, Amitrajeet A. & Beladi, Hamid, 2021. "A game-theoretic model of water theft during a drought," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    8. Aurélien Dumont & Stéphanie Leyronas & Olivier Petit & Quentin Ballin, 2021. "Agir en commun pour un usage durable de l’eau agricole. Propositions pour prévenir la dégradation et la surexploitation des eaux souterraines," Post-Print hal-03183610, HAL.
    9. Gómez-Limón, José A. & Gutiérrez-Martín, Carlos & Montilla-López, Nazaret M., 2021. "Priority water rights. Are they useful for improving water-use efficiency at the irrigation district level?," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    10. Pérez-Blanco, C. Dionisio & Sapino, Francesco & Saiz-Santiago, Pablo, 2023. "First-degree price discrimination water bank to reduce reacquisition costs and enhance economic efficiency in agricultural water buyback," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 205(C).
    11. D'Odorico, Paolo & Dell'Angelo, Jampel & Cristina Rulli, Maria, 2024. "Appropriation pathways of water grabbing," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natsus:v:3:y:2020:i:12:d:10.1038_s41893-020-0589-3. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.