This study investigates whether increased use of the Ostrom design principles could improve groundwater governance research. The principles relate to self-organizing governance systems of common-pool resources, which are more likely to be sustainable if all eight design principles—e.g. clear resource and user boundaries, collective-choice arrangements, monitoring, sanctions, conflict-resolution mechanisms—are present. Empirical studies have proven the relevance and effectiveness of the Ostrom design principles for a range of common-pool resources. However, the application of the design principles to groundwater has been limited. The South African institutional landscape was therefore chosen as a case study to investigate the relevance of the design principles. The case study involved (1) comparing the design principles with established global governance benchmarking criteria, (2) assessing how implementable the design principles would be in South Africa, and (3) comparing the aims of the design principles and the broad aims of groundwater governance in South Africa. It was found that the Ostrom design principles provide researchers with a common ‘language’ for learning about the specific issues of a particular setting, learning from experiments in that setting, and learning from the experience of others. The Ostrom design principles and associated adaptive management, social learning, use of the diagnostic approach, and more specific hydrogeological principles are not mutually exclusive and can be complimentary. The implementation of groundwater governance in South Africa has been poor and few Ostrom design principles have been adopted. More use of the Ostrom design principles could improve groundwater governance in South Africa and globally.