Unitization agreements require specialized professionals who can navigate the complex legal and scientific issues presented by each application. Robert Hardwicke described such an individual as a “lawgineer.” These professionals act as experts and mediators when parties disagree and require an objective party to resolve disputes. They assist in the determination of equity shares, resource conditions, technological solutions, and technical analysis. A similar field of professionals may emerge for similar work in aquifer unitization.

Groundwater negotiators and professionals often encounter informational impasses, whereby the parties cannot find a common understanding of data and information. These disputes often end with each party “agreeing to disagree” and never resolving the underlying misunderstanding. Collaboration compacts may facilitate the negotiation of an aquifer unitization agreement by adopting common guiding principles and context for subsequent negotiation. These compacts can identify conceptual models, analytical methods, and goals before positions become entrenched.

Unitization agreements have several common components and principles that enable them to effectively govern collective resources. These agreements represent a governance system with several phases of development. Several key components work to separate the rights to extract from the right to a benefit, protecting private rights yet enabling collective governance. Private interests are protected as equity shares in the unitization agreement. A unit operator makes resource management decisions for the collectively held resource. As more information is gathered about resource conditions, private interests, represented as shares, are redetermined regularly to ensure accuracy and improve resource management over time. Thus, the methods of determining private shares in the unitization agreement are critical to the unit’s success.