This study is part of a multifaceted study of agricultural production and rural poverty in Pakistan. Water markets provide one of the most promising institutional mechanisms for increasing access to irrigation from groundwater, particularly for tenants and small farmers in South Asia. This institution is particularly important in Pakistan, where agriculture is heavily dependent on irrigation, and increasingly dependent on groundwatter for production. Because the public canal irrigation systems do not provide farmers with adequate water or enough control over irrigation deliveries, many are turning to groundwater from private tubewells as a sole or supplemental source of irrigation.