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Based on a survey of selected Water Users’ Associations (WUA) and their members in West Bengal, India, this paper examines the nature and determinants of member participation in irrigation management. WUA meetings were held on a regular basis with higher member participation under Tube Well, Check Dam and River Lift Irrigation schemes. Their physical characteristics (e.g., high sub-surface storage and flowing rivers with large catchment areas) and system features (e.g., centralized pump house and defined distribution infrastructure) contribute to better water availability, incentivizing the members to participate. Our regression analysis suggests that along with these factors, the socioeconomic attributes of members and their perception about the functioning and decision making of the WUA influence participation in the collective management of schemes. The more the members perceive the functioning of WUAs as democratic and transparent, the greater is their incentive to participate. Greater participatory involvement of the members in the form of donating land for irrigation construction and in training programs is also found to be crucial. So, this paper argues for making the decision-making processes within WUAs democratic and transparent, along with greater efforts toward capacity building of the members, including training for skill enhancement, management and provision of agricultural support practices.

Access to adequate quantity and quality of fresh water is critical to the well-being of Tanzania’s human population, currently approaching 50 million. In the early 2000s, Tanzania revamped its legal and institutional frameworks related to freshwater resources management with the passage of the National Water Policy (NAWAPO) and the Water Resources Management (WRM) Act. Three major components of these frameworks are: the use of natural hydrological boundaries as units for management; the designation of an order for decision making on water allocation that prioritizes basic human and ecosystem water needs; and the encouragement of community participation in freshwater resources management. Institutionally, WRM now follows a nested approach, with the Tanzanian Ministry of Water operating at a national scale, nine basin water offices responsible for water allocation at a river basin scale, and formally recognized water users’ associations as mechanisms for public participation at the catchment scale. To date, 93 water users’ associations have been formed. Although some are active and appear effective, others are almost dormant, and not achieving their full potential as partners in WRM. In this paper, we provide context for the sweeping changes in WRM in Tanzania and review the lessons from more than a decade of implementation of the NAWAPO. We focus in particular on the role of the water users’ associations, and use case studies of three basins—the Pangani, Wami/Ruvu, and Lake Victoria—to examine their strengths and challenges. Tanzania’s experience offers lessons for other countries considering revision to legal and institutional frameworks around fresh water.

Water security in mountain regions requires a deep understanding of the complex interplay of climatic and socioeconomic factors. While socio-hydrology offers a conceptual framework emphasizing the equal importance of social and hydrological processes in water management outcomes, the relative significance of each may vary depending on the specific context, water users’ perspectives, and their particular needs. To study these relationships, we applied the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF) to explore how livelihood assets of water user groups affect their water security in the headwaters of Cusco, Peru. We surveyed 154 residents about their perceptions of their natural, physical, social, human, and financial assets, alongside external influences like climate change and water legislation. We found that while water infrastructure (physical asset) is critical for water access, it does not ensure water security. Robust social assets are essential, as well as contributions from other assets. Furthermore, our results indicate that water user profiles (e.g. domestic water users or farmers) explain better the variability in water-related livelihood assets than geographical location or altitude. Using the SLF approach, we were able to identify the unique water-related needs, priorities, and challenges faced by each water user group. Therefore, water management in high mountain areas may pass through holistic community engagement and the strengthening of diverse assets—especially social ones—which can be achieved and included in policy frameworks aimed at sustainable water management and equitable water access. This would enable mountain communities to be better equipped to handle environmental and economic changes, moving towards more resilient and inclusive water security solutions.

The convergence of climate change and post-Soviet socio-economic and institutional transformations has been underexplored so far, as have the consequences of such convergence on crop agriculture in Central Asia. This paper provides a place-based analysis of constraints and opportunities for adaptation to climate change, with a specific focus on water use, in two districts in southeast Kazakhstan. Data were collected by 2 multi-stakeholder participatory workshops, 21 semi-structured in-depth interviews, and secondary statistical data. The present-day agricultural system is characterised by enduring Soviet-era management structures, but without state inputs that previously sustained agricultural productivity. Low margins of profitability on many privatised farms mean that attempts to implement integrated water management have produced water users associations unable to maintain and upgrade a deteriorating irrigation infrastructure. Although actors engage in tactical adaptation measures, necessary structural adaptation of the irrigation system remains difficult without significant public or private investments. Market-based water management models have been translated ambiguously to this region, which fails to encourage efficient water use and hinders adaptation to water stress. In addition, a mutual interdependence of informal networks and formal institutions characterises both state governance and everyday life in Kazakhstan. Such interdependence simultaneously facilitates operational and tactical adaptation, but hinders structural adaptation, as informal networks exist as a parallel system that achieves substantive outcomes while perpetuating the inertia and incapacity of the state bureaucracy. This article has relevance for critical understanding of integrated water management in practice and adaptation to climate change in postSoviet institutional settings more broadly.

This paper aims to investigate the multifaceted factors influencing agricultural farm productivity and test the hypothesis that participation in Water Users Association (WUA) activities contributes to improved farm productivity. Primary data was collected from the Sindh and Punjab provinces of Pakistan, and hierarchical regression analysis was employed to assess the statistical significance of different variable blocks. The findings reveal that farm productivity (measured in Rs/Acre) is primarily influenced by water and land resource characteristics (54%), followed by personal characteristics of resource users (7.9%) and community and institutional characteristics (1.1%). The study identifies a negative relationship between landholding size and age with farm productivity, while a positive relationship is observed between resource users' level of participation in WUAs and farm productivity. However, it is important to note that these positive outcomes should not solely be attributed to the success of devolution of irrigation management, as inequities in canal water allocation between head and tail still persist. The paper emphasizes the critical role of participatory irrigation management governance in addressing such inequities. The results further suggest that meaningful institutional and land reforms are essential for promoting equitable economic benefits in agricultural systems.

This paper presents the analysis of historical transformation of water management in Central Asia with the specific focus on Uzbekistan. The time frame of the analysis is from the Middle Ages to contemporary times, with different political, social and economic settings in the framework of theory of transformative capacity of institutions. Empirical evidence suggests that the approach of the hydraulic mission has not changed dramatically over the years, but transformed into various forms of control on water management. In recent decades, integrated water resources management paradigms are gaining momentum, while the traditional, State-centric, hydraulic mission approach is losing its attractiveness in the arid Central Asian region. Nevertheless, the State-centric model of water management still persists in the region with clear signs that water management is still more under socio-political control.

In Nepal, water institutions have played a very significant role, and in Tansen and Damauli, the presence of user groups has indicated that proper management of water can help people avert critical water shortages. However, although in both Tansen and Damauli the user groups have been operating for a long time, their performances vary. In Tansen, infrastructural constraints tend to throw up challenges, although operational hazards associated with the supply systems are no less threatening. Moreover, there is large-scale corruption in the systems' upkeep and maintenance, allowing low grade vendors to operate in place of readily available efficient institutions. In Damauli, the systems have been rather perfectly managed, except for minor glitches from time to time. Funding has been good and community bonding has paid off. This paper delves into the community-managed water systems in the two cities and how the performance varies across them and the factors that play a role.

Ostrom’s Design Principles (DPs) are believed to be a set of the best practical guidance for governing natural resources, but applying the DP theory should consider the local context, especially the political context, which has been examined little so far. Using the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework as a conceptual and analytical lens, this paper examines the impact of authoritarian context on self-governance in China. Based on the results of Barnard’s test and Crisp-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (csQCA), our comparative analysis of nine Water Users Association cases provides consistent evidence that supports the DP theory generally on all outcome dimensions. But self-governance under authoritarianism has unique characteristics and its operation depends on proper design of institutional configuration in accordance with context. Our analysis highlights the influence of resource intervention and leadership intervention. It sheds new insights for understanding the significant impacts of the authoritarian context on institutional design of common-pool resources.

In order to implement Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) according to good practice, governments and development agencies have promoted the setting-up of Water Users Associations (WUAs) as a broadly applicable model for water management at the local level. WUAs are promoted as key to the rolling out of IWRM principles through a participative process. Using intensive qualitative data, this paper discusses Tanzanian WUAs in light of the Regulatory Framework within which they operate. I argue that although the government’s objectives are to achieve an equitable and sustainable allocation of water resources, the formalisation of water allocation has led to the exclusion of specific water users. This paper focuses on the Great Ruaha River Catchment (GRRC), where water scarcity has led to competition between investors and small-scale water users. The GRRC is an environment in which formal and informal practices overlap, due to legal pluralism and the incremental implementation of water governance frameworks. This study calls for a reassessment of the role of WUAs in Tanzania. There is a clear gap between the theoretical clarity of tasks handed to WUAs (particularly their role in formalising access to water), and the messiness of everyday practice.

Improving irrigation performance is crucial for increased agricultural productivity. As an indicator of performance, among other factors, improving the water Fees Collection Rate (FCR) is required, but FCR has remained low in most African and Asian countries. In this research, taking the Doho rice scheme in Uganda as a case study, we analyzed the relationship between water sufficiency and FCR. We hypothesized that FCR is influenced by the hydraulic position of the paddy field along the canal. We then used quantitative data for analysis through multiple regression. Later we used qualitative data obtained through interviews for additional explanations of water management activities. As a result, the FCR decreases from upstream to downstream at block, strip, and plot levels; the FCR decreases linearly with an increase in the delivery canal length; the FCR is higher in strips with fewer plots, and FCR is higher within the rotational irrigation blocks. We concluded that inadequate water supply due to high hydraulic positions resulted in low FCR downstream at all the canal levels. To improve FCR, we recommend blending water management activities that secure farmers’ agreement with onsite technical measures to counter the effect of hydraulic positions such as shorter strips and rotational irrigation.