There are four recognisable groundwater socio-ecologies – arid agrarian systems, industrial agricultural systems, smallholder intensive farming systems, and groundwater-supported extensive agro-pastoralism (Figure 2 and Table 2). These differ in hydro-climatic and demographic characteristics,land-use patterns, organisation of agriculture, and the relative importance
of irrigated and rainfed farming.
Also different are the drivers of growth and the nature and level of these societies’ stake in their groundwater-irrigated agriculture.