Governing Water Resource Allocation: Water User Association Characteristics and the Role of the State

Water, as a common pool resource, is threatened by the possibility of overextraction generating a negative economic impact, conflicts among users, and greater income inequality. Scholars have discussed different governance approaches to deal with this threat, including centralized governance and self-governance, and lately, special attention has been paid to the interactions between formal institutions (the state) and local water user associations and how this promotes self-governance. The aim of this paper was to examine the adoption of Ostrom’s design principles present in the legal norms dictated in the Chilean Water Code by water user associations and to analyze the roles of their size, community homogeneity, and perceived water stress on adopting legal norms. The results showed that water communities generally follow the rules established in the Water Code, but the voting system, distribution of water, and fee payment are adjusted in small and homogenous water user associations. We can also conclude that a cornerstone in the system is implementing graduated sanctions, as water users see the tools provided by the Water Code as ineffective.

PARTISIPASI PETANI ANGGOTA PERKUMPULAN PETANI PEMAKAI AIR (P3A) DALAM PENGELOLAAN AIR IRIGASI DI KECAMATAN PALAS KABUPATEN LAMPUNG SELATAN

Rice farmers uses irrigation water managed through Water User Association (P3A). This study aims to analyze rice farming income, the level of participation, and factors related to the participation of farmers members of the P3A. Research data were collected in Palas Subdistrict, South Lampung Regency in November - December 2019. The number of respondents was 68 rice farmers members who were randomly selected. Primary data were obtained by interviewing the respondents and secondary data were obtained from several related institutions. The data were analyzed descriptively and using Rank Spearman correlation test. The results showed that rice farming in planting season 1 and 2 are profitable to cultivate. The levels of participation of P3A members in planning activities, implementing activities, monitoring and evaluating activities, and utilizing the results are in high category. The factors related to the participation of P3A members on irrigation management were the intensity of farmer interaction, the level of motivation, and land size. Key words: participation, Water User Association

A Study of Irrigation Performance Index and Real Cost Value of Irrigation Operations and Maintenance in Surak Irrigation Area

Irrigation Asset Management is required to maintain the value of irrigation asset function and condition. Surak Irrigation Area is located in Lawang Sub-District, Malang Regency. After resurveying in 2020, 21 points of damage were found in Surak Irrigation Area. Irrigation performance index was found to be 77.56% (moderate condition) for which the physical infrastructure aspect is 39.1%, the water availability aspect is 5.4%, the planting index aspect is 4.4%, the supporting facilities for operation and management aspect is 7.8%, the organizational and personnel aspect is 10.8%, the documentation aspect is 3.8%, and the Water User Association aspect is 6.3%. Priority calculation utilized the ranking method, which ranks asset values from the lowest to the highest. The result was that 24 assets are in moderate condition, 43 assets are in good condition, and 146 are in very good condition. The real cost value of irrigation operations and maintenance was calculated to be IDR 1,561,741,648, with IDR 208,506,890 for operating costs and IDR 1,353,234,758 for maintenance costs. For rehabilitation, it was found that 24 assets need regular maintenance and repair, 24 assets need regular maintenance, and 146 assets need routine maintenance

From Private Company to Water User Association and Natural Park over a Century: The Case of Riegos de Levante, Izquierda del Segura (Spain)

This work examines the transformations occurred with the shift from private company to water user association and natural park, looking at one collective irrigation system located in Alicante province (Spain): Riegos de Levante, Izquierda del Segura, one of the most extensive irrigation areas in Europe. Between 1918 and 2018, a process of change and transformation of both landscape and institutions occurred, considering: infrastructure expansion and its operation, the transfer of irrigation management responsibilities to water user association, after years of financial operations with water, thanks to state intervention, the coexistence of traditional agriculture with the modernisation of the irrigation systems, the history of an irrigation reservoir which was transformed into a natural site in 1988, or the evolution of the composition of water resources, taking into account the arrival of the Tajo-Segura transfer waters from the year 1979. The general objective is to understand key factors driving these changes, by means of a paradigmatic case study, as well as to identify policymaking and context-relevant dynamics that could enable it.

Reducing the Carbon Footprint of the Water-Energy Binomial through Governance and ICT. A Case Study

This paper reveals reductions of up to 485 t CO2 eq (CO2 equivalent) of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of energy origin associated with the water-energy binomial which can be achieved after modernizing and automating a Water User Association (WUA) of over 1780 users with microplots in a total area of 775 ha in southeastern Spain. This case study aims to show how the latest advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs) for precision agriculture are being applied efficiently with the implementation of a Smart Agri system, capable of making improvements through the use of renewable energies (64.49% of the total CO2e- avoided), automation in irrigation water management, by applying adequate governance, use of ICTs (731,014 m3 per water footprint reduction with 20.41% of total CO2 eq of associated electrical origin), hydraulic improvements (283,995 m3 per water footprint reduction, 13.77% of the total CO2 eq of associated electrical origin) and reduction of evaporation in reservoirs (26,022 m3 of water by water footprint reduction with 1.33% of the total CO2 eq electrical origin avoided) that act as batteries to accumulate the daily solar energy and enable watering at night, when irrigation is most efficient. It is important to consider the valuable contribution of these artificial green lungs, not only in terms of food for the European Union, but also as a CO2 eq sink that supports the planet’s GHGs. As shown in this study, this is made possible by the joint governance led by the Water Users Association (WUA) and co-led by different management organizations with the support of ICT.

Kadamba Tank Cultivation Area: A Status of Agricultural Sector

The Thamirabarani River is one of the prominent sources of water for Kadamba Tank. Thamirabarani river is the perennial river in the South Tamil Nadu. Apart from that, which can store water during the North-East Monsoon period. The water user association members are getting money from duck rears and allowing duck into the agriculture fields after the harvest. The agriculturist is saying that after the first harvest if the water is not sufficient for the next crop such as paddy, farmers can go for the crop such as zero water consumption crops like green gram, black gram. Because of duck farming, agriculturists are not able to get benefited from low-cost crops. Indeed, water is the scarcity of resources in Tamil Nadu; irrigation water should not be charged more. Like other places in Tamil Nadu, in Kadamba Kulam agriculture basin, also collecting charges (ayakatu) for water usage by the association. The nonavailability of water throughout the year, the agricultural labors are moved from native and employed in the industrial sector. Tamil Nadu is a water tense state that lingers to experience water shortages which are expected to exacerbate in future due to the political pressure and money laundering, Justices A. Selvam and P. Kalaiyarasan dismissed the petitions on several grounds, including the State government’s submission that only 43 mc ft out of 5,049 mcf of surface water that goes waste into the sea was being supplied to the two industries. The court said that such supply did not affect either irrigation or drinking water needs of the people in any way.

Towards a Sustainable and Adaptive Groundwater Management: Lessons from the Benalup Aquifer (Southern Spain)

Reversing the chemical and quantitative impacts derived from human activity on aquifers demands a multidisciplinary approach. This requires, firstly, to update the hydrogeological knowledge of the groundwater systems, which is pivotal for the sustainable use of this resource, and secondly, to integrate the social, economic and administrative reality of the region. The present work focuses on the Benalup aquifer, whose exploitation plays a major role in the economy of the area, based mainly on irrigated agriculture. This activity has had negative consequences for the aquifer in quantitative and chemical terms, leading to its declaration as in poor condition. The study presented here shows the results obtained from the application of hydrogeological techniques, remote sensing and citizen participation tools, which have allowed us to deepen and improve the current knowledge of the system’s hydrogeological, geometric, administrative and social aspects. Additionally, the lessons learned from this case study are analyzed. The deficiencies detected are discussed, and alternatives aimed at the sustainable use of groundwater are proposed, such as the possibility of a joint use of surface and groundwater resources, the creation of a Water User Association responsible for the management of groundwater and the need for greater efforts aimed at educating and raising awareness of water conservation among citizens.

Collective Action and Tragedy of Tank Water

Tank irrigation is important in agriculture-dependent developing economies such as India. Since tank water is a common pool resource, managing tanks cost-effectively through collective action (CA) is a challenge. This notion raises the following principal questions on the tank commons: What is the relationship between transaction costs (that is, cost of cooperation) and CA? And what drive the use of tank water for irrigation? For satisfactory answers, we carried out field studies on 127 farmers of seven tank villages in the districts of Bardhaman and West Midnapore in West Bengal, India between September 2015 and May 2017. Interesting findings have emerged from our study. We notice that CAs are inversely correlated with transaction costs in the study sites. Regarding the factors influencing tank water use (WU) we find based on Logit models that CA matters in WU significantly and positively. This impact of CA on WU is also robust irrespective of the model specifications. However, low income households participate more by offering labour than money but unfortunately they seem to have no primary motives for tank reconstruction. Moreover, in communities where tanks are large, local people’s participation more in terms of labour and such participation in reconstruction of the tanks is their primary motive, and also where the institutional arrangements are both formal and informal, people tend to use tank water more. The practical implication is that the absence of Water User Association and hence proper collaborative management coupled with weak nestedness between the village people and the State is one of the major causes of inadequate tank WU, leading to the decline of the tank commons. JEL: Q01, Q25