Groundwater management has become an increasing concern specifically in terms of global freshwater scarcity. Because most scholarship focuses on groundwater management in arid areas, less is known about groundwater regulation in water-rich areas, which are usually put in place to prevent regional water resources from being transferred elsewhere. This paper will use a hydrosocial cycle analysis to better understand the role of embedded power dynamics within such regulations. In southwest Michigan, where scientists and farmers are engaged in conflict around regulated groundwater use and management, I find that differences in how water is represented within the knowledge systems that these two communities operate by have led to power being exchanged in both overt and covert forms. Specifically, power exerted through knowledge has created conflict at multiple levels, extending beyond epistemological considerations and into social and political realms. As such, understanding how power contributes to conflicts over water, even in water-rich areas like Michigan, can help identify what needs to be addressed before consensus-building strategies around sustainable groundwater use take place.
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