PIM and Water Rights

Issues and opportunities. Improved access to water is an important benefit that PIM can offer for farmers. At a minimum improved communication channels can help farmers to better know how much water they can expect to receive and when it should arrive. Participatory reforms can improve the capability of agencies to listen to water users. They can create and strengthen ways for agencies and farmers to jointly plan water allocation and resolve problems. These may occur through making existing water allocation institutions more effective, or by clarifying, formalizing and otherwise strengthening the water rights of farmers and water users associations.

Implicit rights. Existing institutions may provide explicit water rights, but more commonly water rights are implicit, embedded in existing practices, rules, and regulations regarding who has legitimate claims to take water, from canals, aquifers and other water sources. In government managed irrigation systems allocation is typically supposed to be proportional to land, or assigned in turns and time periods for taking water. In practice access to water is shaped by the hardware of canals and gates and the software of cropping plans and distribution schedules. Farmer managed irrigation systems, including water distribution organized by farmers within larger agency-managed systems, often make customized adjustments in accordance with soil and crop conditions. Rights to water are sometimes framed in terms of shares, and accompanied by obligations to help maintain canals and structures.

Reforms and rights. Participatory reforms are often intended to promote more accountability in the delivery of irrigation services. As such they clarify, and may formalize and strengthen rights to water. Observation of "second generation" issues in irrigation management transfer programs identified the need to clarify and strengthen water rights as an important way to avoid problems which had hampered earlier efforts. Clear authority regarding water is an central component of the ability of an irrigators organization to determine the services it wishes to receive.

Strenghening rights. One way to strengthen water rights is through ensuring that WUA have explicit, formal water rights, for example through some form of registration or licensing. However if such rights exist on paper but are not enforceable, then they are of little use to farmers. Development of institutions that irrigators can use to defend and negotiate their access to water complements and may be even more important than recording rights in a written form. Service contracts between water agencies, and the relationships through which such contracts are formulated and implemented are one way in which water rights may be clarified and strengthened as part of PIM reforms.

Participatory forums. Water user organizations may be active in inventorying water use and forming federations as forums for resolving conflicts and coordinating water use among those sharing a stream or other water source. As water use within river basins becomes increasingly intensive, it may be important to have platforms through which various uses can be coordinated and conflicts resolved.

Whose rights? Where water rights are assigned to individuals, or to households, there may be important equity implications if rights are assigned equally to women, rather than assuming that only men are farmers and irrigators, and that the interests of those sharing a home and hearth can simply be accommodated by assigning rights to one individual as the head of the household. It may be important that all those involved in irrigated agriculture, and all those with rights to land and water, are informed and involved in decisions, at the level of a household, local irrigation community and broader areas.

Sources for additional information:

1. Franz and Keebet von Benda-Beckmann. 2001 Recognizing Water Rights. 2020 Focus 9 (Overcoming Water Scarcity and Quality Constraints), Brief 12 of 14, October 2001.
2. Boelens, Rutgerd, and Gloria Davila, eds. 1998. Searching for Equity: Conceptions of Justice and Equity in Peasant Irrigation. Assen, Netherlands: Van Gorcum.
3. Bruns, Bryan, and Ruth Meinzen-Dick. 2000. Negotiating Water Rights. New Delhi: Vistaar. London: Intermediate Technology Publications.
4. Burchi, Stefano, and Iljen Betlen. 2001. Irrigation Management Transfer: Legal Issues, Introductory Note for Theme 3, Legal Issues, in the International Email Conference on Irrigation Management Transfer.
5. Additional documents on water rights and irrigation can be found by searching this website, and with search engines such as Google.