Surface water markets can also be used to replace groundwater markets especially in times of scarcity. During California's 2014 drought, for instance, some farmers bought surface water pumped from aquifers of neighbouring farmers (Sommer, 2014). Agriculture water conservation and irrigation efficiency programs often rely on fiscal instruments to redirect economic incentives towards lower intensive use of groundwater. Figure 4.4 shows that eight of the 21 responding countries report having subsidies for water conservation programs and nine have subsidies for irrigation efficiency.