INSTITUTIONS, IDEOLOGY, AND THE TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS - WEST TEXAS GROUNDWATER POLICY

West Texas is the setting for an unintended experiment in commons reso urce management. Dispersed, autonomous, local groundwater districts us e nonregulatory strategies to promote conservation and groundwater qua lity. The central force driving this organizational form appears to be ideological. West Texans seek alternatives to slate management of gro undwater pumping. This study uses Key-informant interviews to evaluate the strength of ideology in explaining West Texas groundwater policy and to provide a theoretical framework for discussing the importance o f the ''local solution.'' Time-series data substantiate the claim that local groundwater districts succeed in slowing depletion rates.