Climate change and population increase have the potential to degrade global water resources. In addition, agricultural water supplies are among the most important factors influencing food production in many regions of the world. The same is true in Indonesia, where agriculture is among the five most influential industries. Therefore, the current study has focused on the direct and underlying mechanisms of incremental adaptation techniques that affect agricultural water management. 545 farmers from 12 communities in the province of East Kalimantan, Indonesia, were surveyed to obtain data for this study. Using SmartPLS version 4.0 to analyze the data, it was discovered that psychological elements, such as the farmers' anxieties, attitudes, and knowledge, had a major impact on their incremental adaption tactics. These exhaustive tactics can further result in efficient and successful water resource management. Despite the strong influence of all psychological components of farmers on agricultural water management and incremental adaptation strategies, the researchers discovered that worry and knowledge had a greater impact on dependent and mediating variables than the farmers' perceptions. In addition, the results demonstrated the contingent effect of farmers' self-efficacy and technical skills on their increased usage of incremental methods and efficient and effective water resource management. This study contributes to the existing literature by assessing the impact of farmers' views, attitudes, and behaviors on their water management abilities. It also gives vital policy insights into the sustainable decision-making of farmers to address the basic problem of water scarcity.