WATER IN THE AMERICAN SOUTHWEST IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY SCARCE DUE TO CLIMATIC VARIABILITY AND GROUNDWATER OVERDRAFT. ONE POTENTIAL MECHANISM TO OVERCOME A TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS FOR WESTERN WATER IS BY FACILITATING SELF-GOVERNANCE BY WATER USERS THEMSELVES. THIS PROJECT STUDIES THE POTENTIAL FOR SELF-GOVERNANCE TO SUSTAIN IRRIGATED AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION, USING A COMPARATIVE APPROACH ACROSS THREE RIVER BASINS IN COLORADO. OUR PROJECT IS RELEVANT TO THIS PROGRAM AREA PRIORITY BECAUSE IT WILL PRODUCE NEW KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE IMPACT OF EXISTING AS WELL AS NEW POTENTIAL INCENTIVE MECHANISMS ON SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AS WELL AS ENVIRONMENTAL OUTCOMES. MOVING BEYOND THE EXISTING INCENTIVES TO EXTRACT WATER MORE SUSTAINABLY, THE PROJECT WILL USE BEHAVIORAL EXPERIMENTS TO SIMULATE THE LIKELY IMPACT OF SEVERAL POTENTIAL FUTURE INCENTIVE MECHANISMS. OUR GOAL IS TO DEEPEN OUR PARTNERSHIPS WITH LOCAL AND REGIONAL STAKEHOLDERS TO DEVELOP A RESEARCH PROGRAM THAT HELPS TO DEVELOP INNOVATIVE INTERVENTIONS RELATED TO THE LOCAL GOVERNANCE OF SURFACE AND GROUNDWATER. THE PROJECT'S RESEARCH ACTIVITIES WILL BE GUIDED BY THREE CORE SCIENTIFIC OBJECTIVES: (1) ASSESS THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SELF-GOVERNING IRRIGATION CANAL SYSTEMS IN RESPONDING TO WATER SCARCITY; (2) LEVERAGE A NATURAL EXPERIMENT TO ASSESS THE ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF SELF-IMPOSED ECONOMIC INCENTIVES TO IMPROVE GROUNDWATER GOVERNANCE, AND (3) CONDUCT BEHAVIORAL FIELD EXPERIMENTS TO ASSESS THE LIKELIHOOD OF SUCCESS FOR A VARIETY OF POTENTIAL INTERVENTIONS. WE WILL WORK WITH STAKEHOLDERS TO CO-PRODUCE NEW SCIENTIFIC FINDINGS IN THESE THREE FOCAL AREAS, AND BECAUSE OF THE INCLUSIVENESS OF THE RESEARCH PROCESS, THE NEW KNOWLEDGE WILL BE BOTH TRUSTED AND USED IN THE THREE BASINS AND BEYOND.