March 9, 2026
The paper titled “Externalities of Climate Adaptation in Common-Pool Groundwater Resources” and joint with Jeff Hadachek, Nick Hagerty, and Katrina Jessoe, uses data from California to show how weather shocks impact groundwater levels, well drilling, and the likelihood of domestic well failures. The authors find that, under open-access conditions, heat and drought exacerbate existing externalities associated with groundwater pumping. Farmers adapt to heat and drought by drilling new wells and drawing down the groundwater, which harms access to drinking water through domestic well failures. They find that these weather-induced well failures are concentrated in disadvantaged communities.