Molle François auteur aut IRD Closas A. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf born digital access Faced with severe groundwater depletion, many governments have opted to increase the power of the state. Despite calls for more inclusive governance and a role for groundwater users, modes of governance have tended to continue to rely on a diversity of policy tools and state-run strategies in the attempt to control groundwater (over)abstraction. Yet, around the world, the performance of state-centered governance has remained dismal. Beyond common difficulties in terms of data and financial or human resources, this article analyzes in greater depth the limited effectiveness of state groundwater policies that has been observed, emphasizing its political ramifications. The various aspects of weak monitoring and enforcement, as well as of the infamous "lack of political will," are considered from the perspective of the political economy of groundwater economies. Cases of relative success are then used to identify favorable drivers and contexts for effective state-centered groundwater governance. This article is categorized under: Human Water > Water Governance Engineering Water > Planning Water specialized groundwater governance groundwater policy monitoring political will MONDE 098 062 7 1 e1395 [17 ] 2020 2049-1948 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010077119 10.1002/wat2.1395 2049-1948 [F B010077119] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010077119 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/intranet/publi/2019/11/010077119.pdf Accès réservé (Intranet de l'IRD) IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2019-12-12 2025-02-24 fdi:010077119 fre