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China’s 2002 revised Water Law urged local authorities to control groundwater abstraction in regions of overdraft. Smart card machines installed on wells have been developed to monitor and control groundwater abstraction by large numbers of smallholder farmers. This webinar presented two cases of local groundwater regulation with the use of smart card machines in Gansu Province, Northwest China and highlighted the political process behind the implementation of different regulation mechanisms. The presented cases provided insights on the contextual conditions critical for the use of smart card machines and effective enforcement of water quotas and pricing.