Abstract
In many countries, farmers are turning to groundwater to make up for surface water scarcity and to deal with increasing water demand, even inside large‐scale irrigation schemes. In many situations, this leads to the mining of groundwater resources, which in turn threatens the sustainability of the farms that depend on this resource. The purpose of this study was to find ways to provide the necessary information to stakeholders to enable them to construct rules for sustainable groundwater management. The dynamics of water resources and water use practices were analysed and management indicators were designed for two irrigation schemes in North Africa: Tadla (Morocco) and Mitidja West (Algeria). The results showed, firstly, that available groundwater has decreased; secondly, that farming systems depend to an increasing extent on groundwater resources, and thirdly, that individual and collective access to groundwater depends on informal arrangements. We developed and tested a platform for dialogue for water management focused on exploring plausible scenarios of agricultural development in relation to the use of groundwater. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.