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Globally, irrigated agriculture is the largest abstractor, and predominant consumer, of groundwater resources, with large groundwater-dependent agro-economies now having widely evolved especially in Asia. Such use is also causing resource depletion and degradation in more arid and drought-prone regions. In addition crop cultivation practices on irrigated land exert a major influence on groundwater recharge. The interrelationship is such that cross-sector action is required to agree more sustainable land and water management policies, and this paper presents an integrated vision of the challenges in this regard. It is recognised that 'institutional arrangements' are critical to the local implementation of management policies, although the focus here is limited to the conceptual understanding needed for formulation of an integrated policy and some practical interventions required to promote more sustainable groundwater irrigation.

The aim of this paper is to provide a strategic overview of a decade of experience in supporting various 'public administrations' around the world in their efforts to manage intensive (and in many cases excessive) groundwater resource exploitation for agricultural irrigation. Special emphasis is put on a number of aquifers, mainly in South & East Asia and Latin America, where GW•MATE has either been involved with the implementation of comprehensive 'pilot' projects over 3-5 years (in Argentina, Brazil, China and Morocco) or been invited to evaluate, advise and guide ongoing initiatives (in India, Mexico and Peru). These experiences are profiled through a series of boxes introduced in the overview-each exhibiting a varying degree of success but all providing hope and orientation for the future in this important aspect of water resource management. GW•MATE recommends use of a 'pragmatic framework' to identify of a balanced package of technical, economic, institutional and social measures appropriate to the hydrogeological setting and socioeconomic situation of the aquifer system (or groundwater body) under consideration, that can be introduced with the agreement of stakeholders to promote more sustainable groundwater use in agriculture.

La presente investigación, se realizó con base en dos supuestos interconductuales: 1) el comportamiento es susceptible de modularse por factores históricos y/o situacionales; 2) el comportamiento pernicioso puede regularse por factores situacionales como las consecuencias. El objetivo fue evaluar el efecto de las consecuencias (positivas y negativas) sobre la elección entre perjudicar o no a un compañero durante la solución de una tarea. Participaron 35 estudiantes universitarios distribuidos aleatoriamente en cinco grupos. La tarea experimental consistió en la solución de operaciones aritméticas proporcionalmente puntuadas (1 a 5 puntos). El principal resultado fue que las consecuencias negativas por no perjudicar modulan mayoritariamente la ocurrencia de comportamiento pernicioso. Los resultados se discuten en términos del papel regulador de las consecuencias (en relación con el comportamiento pernicioso) en tanto factor situacional.