Towards agricultural groundwater sustainability behaviour: Effects of place attachment

Abstract

The study aimed to analyse the causal effects of place attachment (PA) on farmers' groundwater (GW) sustainability behaviour using the developed model of cultural environmental bias (CEB). The analysis unit in this descriptive and causal study was the hydrological areas of GW resources studies and Agricultural GW Users (AGWU) of agricultural wells. Causal analysis showed that place identity structure (PI) is a strong determinant of GW sustainability behaviour and has the most direct and indirect causal effect on farmers' behaviour. The fitted model of the study is a combined model that explains 47% of the variance changes in GW sustainability behaviour. This study showed that in cultural and social contexts, beliefs and norms of farmers are vital in the decisions of the agriculture sector. Farmers' place attachment affects environmental cultural beliefs and activities and their public participation for the purpose of environmental‐groundwater sustainability.