This article examines the problem of urban groundwater mining in West Java, Indonesia. Groundwater tables in urban West Java have been sinking rapidly for two decades. Overpumping has driven up pumping costs while intruding salt or polluted water threatens groundwater quality. Industrial pumpers are mainly responsible for the increase in groundwater exploitation. Government efforts to regulate groundwater exploitation have so far lacked the street-level impact needed to stop the pumping race. Shifting the focus of monitoring and regulation from factory boreholes to factory waste-water outlets is discussed as a possible solution to the problem of limited administrative capacity.