| This dissertation is concerned with groundwater and examines the impact of United States management practices or "regimes" on groundwater resources. It provides basic but essential background information about groundwater and outlines the most pressing problems on the subject. A literature review is included, which gives a broad picture of the existing work on groundwater and points out the need for additional work in the policy arena.; A description is provided of groundwater management regimes (or systems) widely used in the United States today. Then, the Ideal Type is fully discussed so that the reader understands why the components were chosen. A national survey was conducted to determine which, if any, states in the US have groundwater management regimes that incorporate the five components of the Ideal Type. Each question in the survey was related to one of the Ideal Type components. The results were then used to test the hypotheses of the research: (1) States with highly centralized public administration systems, such as those managed with a permit system, are more likely to achieve the goals of the Ideal Type than are states without such centralization; and (2) States that follow absolute ownership doctrines or common law are least likely to achieve the Ideal Type management objectives.; Three important things were produced from this work: (1) An Ideal Type was constructed to compare existing groundwater management regimes across the United States. (2) The survey conducted for this work has supported the hypotheses, providing a foundation from which to proceed with further research. (3) A new, updated table was presented grouping the US states into management systems. It is hoped that this updated, thoroughly researched work is useful to others because when it was being constructed many, many inconsistencies were found in the existing literature and sources. |
