Participatory Water Management - A New Paradigm

Transcription

1 Network of Asia-Pacific Schools and Institutes of Public Administration and Governance (NAPSIPAG) Annual Conference 2005 Beijing, PRC, 5-7 December 2005 Theme: The Role of Public Administration in Building a Harmonious Society Workshop on Enlarging Citizen Participation and Increasing Local Autonomy In Achieving Societal Harmony Participatory Water Management - A New Paradigm Mrs. Pratibha Deshpande Lecturer Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar College of Arts & Commerce Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India Prof. Nandkumar N. Naik Professor & Head of Public Administration Department Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India Er. G.D. Deshpande Sectional Engineer Water Resources DepartmentGovt. of Maharashtra, India 1

2 ABSTRACT Rapid socio-economic development is one of the key goals of most governments, especially the developing countries, where the administration is involved in the economy in various ways. Good Governance, as is well known, is associated with effective and efficient administration. Broadly speaking, the ideals of good governance are the openness, fairness, impartiality, rationality and participation. The peoples participation plays an immensely important role as they know the local conditions very well and are always in a better position to match the resources and needs precisely and also it would be able to bring fair amount of accountability in the system in a sense that the decision makers live and work in close contact with the users and as such are exposed to more effective security and ultimately generating pressure to deliver the goods. This paper presents an overview of the study as to how the peoples participation in the irrigation administration plays an important and effective role in generating maximum benefits out of the project Introduction: 1.1 National development with emphasis on nation building and socioeconomic progress is the major task of developing countries. There is a growing concern that the capacity of the Public Administration system in developing countries has become inadequate in the face of complexity of emerging social and economic challenges. Developing countries have made various studies in developing their human resources and improving their economies. 1.2 In the globalization era, more advancement as well as the challenges, are ahead. In order to cater the needs of the society, a citizen friendly and citizen caring as well as responsive administration is highly needed. Governance for development ought to be accountable, participatory, responsive, efficient and effective for promoting the rule of law. Good Governance, is therefore, linked to the role of the state as to what it can do and can not do and its capability and resources to undertake the tasks assigned for itself. Good governance depends on the co-operation and on involvement of large numbers of citizen and organizations. 1.3 Water is one of the prime natural resource for life to survive on the planet. It is essential for every activity to take place from agricultural to industry. 1.4 Most of the worlds population live in developing countries where provisions of water and food to the growing population needs to be tackled, before shortage of water and food storages becomes crucial in the near future. The availability of this natural resource is finite and this precious resource is also getting continuously strained due to consistently increasing population, larger scale industries and growth of urbanization. 1.5 The Management of land and water resources that provide the life supportive system is crucial to environment, economic and social sustainability. From this point of view, the role and importance of community participation in ensuring the development is now widely accepted. 1.5 Historically, water requirement have increased steadily over the years, as the population in the various countries have increased. The nature of problems, associated with water resources sector, are highly complex and challenging. 1.6 Water requirement in Asia started to increase exponentially from about the middle of the twentieth century. In 1950 only five percent (5%) of the available water resources of Asia were used, the corresponding estimate for the year 2000 is above 22 percent. Which means that the ratio would increase by a factor of 4½ times in a relatively short period of 50 years. 2

3 Dynamic of the ratio of water consumption to water resources 1.7 The Figure 1 * above indicates that a 22% the extent of water utilization, in Asia by the year 2000 would be the highest among all the continents, nearly three times that of Africa and twice the global average. While the situation in Europe is somewhat similar in terms of total volume of water used, there is simply no comparison between these two countries. The total volume of water used in Asia is significantly higher than in Europe. (* Asian International Water edited by Mr. Asit K. Biswas) 1.8 Asian countries are facing continually higher water requirements for two main reasons. The principal one being the steadily increasing population and Second one the increasing water requirement due to change in life style. In this way water requirement will go up by 25% in (According to national water study for England and Wales in terms of increasing use like washing machines and dishwashers, flush toilets etc.) 1.9 In order the support an increasing population in terms of national food sufficiency, more and more water will be required for irrigation in nearly all the Asian countries, unless irrigation water use efficiency be radically improved Indian Economy And Agriculture: Agriculture is of paramount importance in India s economy and irrigation has played a lead role in this. The agriculture contributes about 25% to total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and about two third of the total employment in the country is dependent on it. India has the second highest irrigated area in the world Irrigation, an Important Entity: Irrigation is one of the important factors for assured crop production, if supplied at right time and in the required amount. It permits better utilization of all other inputs and thus leads not only to increase yields per unit area and time but also to stability to the economic status of farmers. A large number of irrigation projects have been constructed after independence. But utilization of the potential 3

4 created has been remained very low and it s distribution of water is uncertain, undisciplined and inequitable. The lack of adequate and assured irrigation water supply for optimal crop production is the major bane in the majority of irrigated areas India has world s 25% irrigated area and soil and climate permit the year round cropping. However, due to uneven and erratic distribution of water resources is spatial and temporal mode, the utilizable ultimate water resources are not sufficient to meet with the total water requirement of diversified cropping pattern for the round year crop pattern Vital role of water in economic and social development makes it essential to have a strategy to develop and manage these resources. The formulation and implementation of a strategy for the water sector can help sustain economic and social development and can help build a country s capacity to manage its resources There is a need for focusing on planning and improved management of water for domestic and irrigation purposes due to growing water scarcity and demand for increased agricultural production. Demand for food in developing countries is expected to be more than double by 2025; to ensure food self sufficiency, average yields of food grains need to be doubled. The scope for increasing area under irrigation is limited as most of the best sites have already been exploited. The productivity of irrigated area is declining because of salination and decreased fertility of soil. Irrigation researchers believe that improvements in water use efficiency in irrigated areas are essential. A key strategy being devolution of management responsibilities from government to users, i.e. to Water User Associations. Transferred responsibilities may include infrastructure maintenance, organization management of water delivery, setting fees, water rights and conflict resolution etc One important way of improving water management is to create awareness amongst users and ensure increased user participation in irrigation water management. 2.0 PARTICIPATORY IRRIGATION WATER MANAGEMENT Some Important Aspects : 2.1 Irrigation water is a vital input in crop production cycle that ensures increase and stability in crop production and productivity of crops Massive investments are made in creating irrigation water facility through construction of major, medium and minor irrigation schemes in the country and also in the state of Maharashtra. The irrigation potential created in Maharashtra State has rapidly increased particularly in post independence period and it is lakh hectares by Februry However, a big gap is observed between potential created and utilized. 2.2 In order to overcome this problem, effective, efficient and appropriate irrigation water management (IWM) practices need to be adopted. One of the means to achieve desirable level of IWM is to enhance the organizational capacity of the people, more specifically of the farmers being benefited from the canal water in the command of different irrigation projects. This can be made possible by creating and developing farmers organizations / associations. In Maharashtra State, so far 564 Water User associations are functioning covering an area of about ha. 2.3 It has been progressively realized that managing water with the people rather that from the people is rewarding for both the state and the village communities. 2.4 To solve the water crisis, construction of large irrigation projects commenced in the latter part of 19 th century to protect drought prone areas from famine, and administered by Government to supply water to individual cultivators. But result shows that the performance has been far from satisfactory. 2.5 All public irrigation system are community systems and for getting their programmed benefits stress needs to be laid on their social character rather than wing these purely as technical processes. If we go over the history of irrigation systems their successful management can be linked to involvement of beneficiaries. 2.6 The improvement in irrigation management is related to the active participation of farmers. Peoples participation ensures reduction in operation cost and in respect of improvement in irrigation management. It helps in improving the yield, equity, conflict, reduction, optimization of resources etc. For assured 4

5 benefits, awareness, homogencity and leadership amongst participants is important. Participation can cover domains of water use, physical facilities and organizational setup. Participation can become purposeful and effective if water user societies (Associations) formed. 2.7 India has a long tradition of public irrigation systems. Most of these system were managed by water Panchayats. Ex. are the medieval Phad system of Khandesh in Maharashtra, Tank Management in Tamilnadu, Vijaynagar canal system etc. These were collective system of management. Some of these have still survived and are several hundred years old. 2.8 By realizing the importance of people participation, Government of India, issued guidelines under No /85-CAD, dated for involving farmers in water management. A stress was laid in National water policy also. 2.9 Government of Maharashtra has also taken a policy decision to encourage formation of cooperative water user s Association for irrigation management Experience of the user managed systems show that several tasks in irrigation management are handled by the farmer groups more efficiently and also at reduced costs, the damages to structures are also remedied quickly, stealing (or unauthorized use) of water is easily encountered as the water now belongs to the group rather than the government. Waste of water is minimized within the constraints of the main system. Irrigation water distribution can therefore improve considerably. 3.0 Benefits from Participatory Irrigation Management: Productivity per unit of water or land by way of yields, irrigated area and crop intensity. Better water management improves the adequacy, reliability and predictability of water deliveries, and leads to better control of water. Better control on water also induces the farmer to go in for increased inputs, high yielding varieties etc. resulting in higher yields. Equity relates to both allocation and actual supply of water. Equity can be considered as between head and tail farmers and as between rich and poor farmers etc. Because of group psychology the weaker sections can get a better treatment. Conflict Reduction : In a participatory system the water belongs to the group. There is a sense of ownership of water and wastage is watched by thousand eyes. conflicts are therefore reduced and resolved collectively. Sustained improved performance : Because of the atmosphere of trust performance of the system is sustained. 3.1 Optimization of Resources for Construction, Operation and Maintenance Optimization of resources is achieved by availability of local resources. Quality Control is better because of participation, Local information is easily available be it for design or for layouts. There is better collection of water charges. All the distribution system including field channels etc. will be under the control of the farmers as a community. The irrigation management in the area will also be with the community of farmers. There will be guarantee to get the sanctioned quota of water at predetermined intervals as per the legal agreement entered into with the Government. As the water charges will be levied on volumetric basis for the water supplied to the Association, it will encourage farmers to use the water more economically and irrigate more area in the same quantity of water. Government will not put any restriction regarding crops to be grown by the farmers. Only care would have to be taken to ensure that the ground water level does not rise above danger zone. Farmers can use well water if required, in conjunction with the canal water to irrigate the same area. Government will not levy any charges on the reuse of water percolating through nallas or drainage schemes within the area of the Association. 3.2 Farmers participation is a socio technical process. Since there is very high social content a formula which may work at one place may not work at another. Maharashtra has different agro-climate zones which range from drought prone areas which an annual rainfall of not more than 500 mm and zones having heavy rains of 3000 mm. Also, topography is different in different zones, resulting into growing of different crops to suit the agro-climatic condition and for this reason one single model for WUA may not work for all the zones and different models may have to be tried. 5

6 4.0 CASE STUDY OF MULA IRRIGATION PROJEC: 4.1 The implementation of Participatory Irrigation Management is very vigorously pursued by government of Maharashtra. Recently, it has issued a G.R. dated 24 July 2001 regarding forming of water user associations over the irrigation command in the state and handover irrigation management to these water users associations. But, ever prior to this important development in irrigation sector in Maharashtra, water User Associations were formed on some projects. Mula project is one of them. As compared to any other project in the state, maximum number of WUAs are functional at present on Mula project. One of the first WUA was formed in A study of Water Users Associations was undertaken by the authors to ascertain and evaluate the performance WUAs on the Mula Irrigation projects as a whole as well as a three individual WUAs on Mula project as a sample viz : 1) Datta WUA, 2) Yogeshwar WUA and 3) Jagadamba WUA. The status on this aspect of Jayakwadi project is also considered in the study. 4.2 Mula, a major irrigation project completed 30 years ago, is situated in the Ahmednagar district of western Maharashtra region on the Mula river, a tributory of Godavari river. It consists of a dam at Rahuri and two main canals of 52 km and 18 km. long respectively. The gross storage capacity of Mula project is 26,000 Mcft. ( M Cum) having total irrigable command area of ha. There are 82 number of WUAs formed on this project having total culturable area of ha. The command area comes under the relatively progressive area of western Maharashtra which was under British rule before independence. The cooperative movement has taken roots in this region long back. Therefore, they are relatively more organised and aware of the irrigation system. 4.3 Jayakwadi is a major irrigation project built across Godavari River near Paithan in Aurangabad Dist. of Maharashtra completed 30 years back. It has a storing capacity of 2909 Mcum of water with two main canals emerging from the dam having length 208 km and 132 km respectively. It has got an irrigable area of 1,25,000 ha. There are 38 number of WUAs formed on this project having total culturable area of ha. The command area of this project comes under the formerly princely states which is considered relatively less progressive and the people lack initiative and effective leadership. 4.4 Datta WUA, at village Chanda, Tq. Newasa, Dist Ahmednagar is in the tail portion of Mula Project situated in the command of Minor No 7 on the Mula Right Bank Canal. It has got 255 members and total number of beneficiaries is 402. This WUA has been in existence since This WUA is considered as one of the most active societies in the progressive Mula commands. 4.5 Yogeshwar WUA, at village Brahmani, Tq. Rahuri dist. ahmednagar is in the head portion of Mula Project situated in the command of Minor No 2 of Distributory No 3 on the Mula Right Bank Canal. It has got 150 members and total number of beneficiaries is 243. This WUA has been in existence since This WUA is considered as one of the most active societies in progressive Mula commands. 4.6 Jgabamba WUA, at Wakadi village, Tq. Newasa is in the tail portion of Mula Project situated in the command of Minor No 2/2 of distributory no 2, Branch No 2 of Mula Right Bank Canal. It has got 339 members and total number of beneficiaries is 691. This WUA has been in existence since This WUA is considered as one of the most active societies in progressive Mula commands. 5.0 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY: 5.1 To evaluate and ascertain about the improvement in the performance of the project after formation of active Water Users Associations in the command area on the following aspects 1) System Performance 2) Agricultural Productivity 3) Financial Aspects 4) Environmental Aspects 5) Social Aspects 6.0 METHODOLOGY: 1) Field observations in Mula and Jayakwadi project commands as well as in the area of three sample WUAs in Mula command. 2) Discussions with Water Resources Department Officials, and beneficiaries in the commands 3) Official records of Water Resources Offices 6

7 4) Collection of first hand information on selected aspects that relate to performance of water user associations. 7.0 OBSERVATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS: As the theory suggests, where there is more effective peoples participation, more the benefits are available. After the analysis of real time data gathered from concerned government offices and with the feed back received through field visits to Mula and the aforesaid WUAs, clear benefits through peoples participation are quite evident Jayakwadi and Mula projects as a whole have been purposefully taken in this study, considering their different backgrounds as mentioned in aforesaid paras. Although, Mula is considered as a progressive one, not all WUAs in it may be equally active and progressive. And therefore, these three individual successful WUAs are also studied and compared with the overall performance of Mula and Jayakwadi Project. Hence, one can find in every aspect that the performance of the three selected WUAs is above the overall performance of Mula project as a whole and the performance of Mula project is above that of Jayakwadi project A summary of this performance for the following aspects is furnished below. This has been arrived at with the help of authentic data as given at the end in figures 1 to System Performance: Annual Irrigation Water Supply Per Unit Irrigated Area reduces favorably (Fig No 1) Because of peoples participation in maintaining and repairs of field channel, the utilization of irrigation has increased Internal distribution through the minors is handed over to the Co-operative Society, the stress on the department officials is reduced and can give better attention to the upkeep and management of main canal and distributories Potential created and utilised ratio increases considerably 7.2 Agricultural Productivity Productivity has improved. Due to Rotational water supply, crops are getting required amount of water at required time which has resulted in increase in crop production per hector. Output (Produce) per unit irrigated area increases considerably (Fig No 2) The increase in irrigation has resulted into better ground water recharge and has helped in better conjunctive use of water. Output (Produce) per unit irrigation water supply increases considerably (Fig No 3). 7.3 Financial Aspects There is timely payment of water bills by the Societies. Cost Recovery Ratio (with respect to revenue and the O&M cost) increases favorably (Fig. No 4) O&M cost per Unit area reduces (Fig. no 5) O&M cost per Unit water reduces Revenue per unit of water supplied increases favorably Man days for O&M per unit area reduces favorably ( Fig no 6) Assessment Recovery Ratio betters and tends to 1. ( Fig no 7) There is a reduction in overheads of administration 7.4 Environmental Aspects Land damage index (with proportion to area irrigated) reduces considerably 7.5 Social Aspects With the formation of Water Users Association, there is a sense of water right because a certain volume of water is allocated to the Water Users Associations. There is visible equity in terms of 7

8 participation of beneficiaries. Equity performance ratio tends to 1 favorably. The benefit of irrigation should be given to the beneficiaries in head, middle and tail reaches equitably. Ideally, this ratio should be The whole network system functioning in good conditions, water carrying capacity in Mula Command area is better and hence more and more people are getting benefits up to tail region of the command reasonably These sense of water right has developed a sense of using water economically, because they have purchased it, wastage is minimised Stealing of water is controlled as there is watch on the system collectively Due to Collectivity, a sense of trust and atmosphere is created and are working for the community development through developing individual. 8

9 8.0 NOTES AND REFFERENCES nternational waters from Ganges- Brahmaputra to Mekong.- Edited by Asit K Biswas shi Hashimoto - Oxford University Press 2 erative Water User s Association Guidelines Govt. of Maharashtra Irrigation Department sation of Water User s Societies for active involvement of farmers in Water Management. - nment of Maharashtra Irrigation department 4 t on Bench marking of Irrigation Projects in Maharashtra. Water Resources Department of Maharashtra rectorate of Irrigation Research and Development Pune. Evaluation Study Report on Cotive Water User s Societies on Major Irrigation Projects in Maharashtra Region of ashtra India, ation Studies of Mula Project ( Maharashtra ) WALMI Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India 7 on and Power Jounral Vol.-52 June 1995 Central Board of Irrigation and Power, Special on Maharahstra 8 and Energy for 21 st century proceedings of fourth International R&D conference, Jan. Aurangabad, India, Vol 2 9 Profile of selected countries Government of India Oct patory irrigation mnagement paradigm for 21 st century vol 2, Editor L.K. Joshi and h Hooja 1 on Mula Project by AID, Ahmednagar 2 on Jayakwadi Project published by government of Maharashtra 3 tes of GMIDC, Aurangabad, and CADA Ahmednagar 9