@article{PAR00007483,
  title = {{T}he sunk cost fallacy of deep drilling},
  author = {{M}ar{\'e}chal, {J}ean-{C}hristophe},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{D}eep drilling of borewells to hundreds of meters ? depth is increasingly frequent for water exploration in fractured crystalline rocks. {A}t the same time, many studies provide evidence that hard-rocks areas are characterized by a shallow higher-permeability zone (??active' zone) that overlies a deeper lower-permeability zone hosting little flow (??inactive' zone). {C}onsequently, the yields of borewells decrease dramatically with depth. {T}his gap between hydrogeological practice and science can be explained by a well-known behaviour in psychological sciences. {T}he escalation of commitment consists in justifying increased investment in a decision, based on the cumulative prior investment, despite new evidence suggesting that the decision was probably wrong. {T}his behaviour leads to the sunk cost fallacy of deep drilling: drilling a borehole to unreasonable depth in the hope of recovering the money wasted to drill the first dry meters. {A}s water experts, we should contribute to end this irrational trend of wells deepening in hard-rocks.},
  keywords = {crystalline rocks ; drilling ; fractured rocks ; groundwater exploration ; {I}ndia ; weathering ; permeability ; well yield ; fractured aquifer ; fracture ; {INDE}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{H}ydrogeology {J}ournal},
  volume = {18},
  numero = {2},
  pages = {287--289},
  year = {2010},
  DOI = {10.1007/s10040-009-0515-2},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/{PAR}00007483},
}