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

Irrigation Post-Modernization. Farmers Envisioning Irrigation Policy in the Region of Valencia (Spain)

During the last three decades, like many other Mediterranean states, Spain has intensively promoted the modernization of irrigation, focusing mainly on the introduction of pressurized irrigation systems. Following 30 years of investment, a shift in irrigation policies is needed to solve some of the deficiencies in this modernization process and to incorporate new measures to cope with upcoming challenges generated by international markets, climate change and other social and economic processes. This paper describes and analyses the results of participatory research carried out with the water user associations in the autonomous region of Valencia, in order to define post-modernization irrigation policies. A survey and 24 local workshops involving 304 water user associations were conducted during the irrigation season of 2018 in order to form an assessment of the sector and design new irrigation policies. The results show that after 30 years of important investment, the obsolescence of the infrastructure has become the current main priority, making farmers dependent on public subsidies. New necessities have also emerged, such as renewable energies and nonconventional water resources, which farmers consider indispensable in order to reduce operating costs and guarantee water supply.

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.