Your search found 3 records
1 Aarnoudse, E.; Bluemling, B.; Wester, P.; Qu, W. 2012. How WUAs facilitate direct groundwater regulation: a case study of Minqin County, China. IWMI-Tata Water Policy Research Highlight, 23. 5p.
Water user associations ; Groundwater management ; History ; Case studies ; Water policy ; Wells / China / Minqin County
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H045304)
(266.3KB)
2 Aarnoudse, E.; Bluemling, B. 2017. Controlling groundwater through smart card machines: the case of water quotas and pricing mechanisms in Gansu Province, China. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 20p. (Groundwater Solutions Initiative for Policy and Practice (GRIPP) Case Profile Series 02) [doi: https://doi.org/10.5337/2016.224]
Groundwater development ; Groundwater management ; Groundwater extraction ; Water quotas ; Water pricing ; Water use ; Water law ; Water quality ; Water policy ; Surface water ; Farmer participation ; Local authorities ; Regulations ; Pumping ; Agriculture ; Irrigated farming ; Land use / China / Gansu Province
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: e-copy only Record No: H048448)
(845.66 KB)
The second issue of the GRIPP Case Profile Series documents the use of water quotas and pricing mechanisms in Northwest China to control and manage groundwater. Since the 1970s, this region has experienced intensive groundwater abstraction by smallholder farmers. In 2002, however, the revised Water Law urged local authorities to regulate groundwater use in regions with overdraft. The Case Profile reviews, in detail, the use of smart card machines installed on wells by the local government to control abstraction. The study compares the situation in two counties where local authorities opted for two different types of regulatory mechanisms enabled by the smart cards: Minqin County - where they chose quotas, and Guazhou County - where they opted for a tiered water pricing system. This Case Profile highlights how the success of smart card machines depends on the design and implementation of the regulatory mechanism behind the machines. In Minqin, quotas have successfully affected farmers’ groundwater use practices, whereas in Guazhou, water pricing has had little impact on farmers’ individual groundwater use practices. Moreover, the case of Minqin exemplifies that quotas enable equitable water access to all farmers and maintain the buffer function of conjunctive surface water and groundwater use. These are important principles to design effective groundwater regulation policies, both in and outside China.
3 Aarnoudse, E.; Closas, Alvar; Lefore, Nicole. 2018. Water user associations: a review of approaches and alternative management options for Sub-Saharan Africa. Colombo, Sri Lanka: International Water Management Institute (IWMI). 43p. (IWMI Working Paper 180) [doi: https://doi.org/10.5337/2018.210]
Water user associations ; Water management ; Water security ; Water resources ; Water governance ; Water policy ; Water distribution ; Stakeholders ; Public-private cooperation ; Partnerships ; Surface water ; Groundwater irrigation ; Irrigation systems ; Irrigation management ; Irrigation water ; Decision making ; Investment ; Food security ; Cost recovery ; Community development ; Participatory approaches ; Public participation ; Agricultural productivity ; Socioeconomic environment ; Alternative methods ; Public authorities / Africa South of Sahara
(Location: IWMI HQ Call no: IWMI Record No: H048782)
(1 MB)
Building on existing literature and the analysis of a portfolio of development projects (past and under implementation), this paper reviews the evolution of water user associations (WUAs) in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), reflecting on the conceptualization of how they operate, and the promised outcomes related to irrigation development, and the efficient and effective delivery of irrigation services. It also moves one step further from existing studies on WUAs, postulating that additional reflection is needed to understand the limitations of WUAs and proposes alternative, viable and context-based adapted models. This need is particularly strong in SSA where irrigation is incipient, and governments and donors are still consolidating their development approaches. Whereas a growing body of international literature takes into account the sociopolitical context of decentralized irrigation management, practical indication on what remains to be done to address the various limitations found in SSA stays meagre and scattered. The objective of this paper is not to challenge the myth of WUAs but to learn how to better deliver on the promised outcomes. The underlying message is that, if the SSA region is to be made water and food secure while respecting resource sustainability, community development, livelihoods and equality of resource access, the recurrent templates for WUA management and governance need to be revisited and adapted to local needs.
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