Different patterns of water-use affect social groups differently based on social inequality and power relations. Social status and power determine the extent to which people can insulate themselves from water scarcity or overcome it.

For instance, in Kutch, Gujarat, richer farmers have invested in deep bore tubewells to irrigate their fields and grow cash crops. When rains fail, the earthen wells of poorer villagers run dry, leaving them without even drinking water, while the moist green fields of the rich seem to mock them.

In rural India, women experience water scarcity more acutely because fetching water is generally women's task, yet they do not control these resources. Property relations determine who can access water sources and on what terms.