Adaptive water governance systems are underpinned by enhanced social learning capacity of the society of actors to understand and adapt to changes properly. Thus, as a first step, it is crucial to assess the learning capacity of water actors in different levels, as human components of a socio-ecological system (SES), to know how to improve the water resources system adaptive capacity. Aiming at practicing assessment of learning capacity in a society of water actors, the present paper focuses on local water users, one the society of farmers using the groundwater resource in Rafsanjan Plain and the other one the society of farmers in Lakes Tashk-Bakhtegan Basin, both situated in the southern Iran. A methodological framework was developed and adopted to assess the learning capacity of water users corresponding to both the process of learning (represented by social justice, perception of interdependency, mutual trust, and interaction among all stakeholders) and the learning outcomes (including width, direction, depth and orientation of learning). The required data were collected using semi-structured interviews. The results showed how the responses of the local water users are affected by the mechanisms which are rooted in the social memory, technology, path dependency, and the degree of access to water. Although most of the researchers have addressed the social learning to have positive and constructive outcomes, the results of this research revealed the process of social learning resulted in neutral and destructive outcomes among water users in the study areas. Assessment of learning capacity in the water associated societies, using the methodological framework developed in this research, can help set off removing learning barriers and enhancing the socio-ecological system adaptive capacity.

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