Water user associations

Water user associations

A Water User Association (WUA) is very simply a group of water users, such as irrigators, who pool their financial, technical, material, and human resources for the operation and maintenance of a water system. A WUA usually elects leaders, handles disputes internally, collects fees, and implements maintenance. In most areas, WUA membership depends on one’s relationship to a water source (such as groundwater or a canal).

Characteristics of enduring, Self-governing WUAs

Given the clear benefits of WUAs, it is appropriate to consider what characteristics enduring, self-governing WUAs have. Elinor Ostrom has identified seven important characteristics of organizations which manage common resources well. Each characteristic is described below.

*Clearly defined boundaries. The membership of the institution must be well defined. It must be clear who has legitimate access to the resource, who is under the authority of the association, and who the “others” are that must be prevented from access. Additionally, the boundaries of the resource must be defined. In the case of WUAs, the membership would likely be all landowners that receive water from a main canal and the resource would be the flows. This is known as a hydrologic organizing structure. However, some groups choose to organize in ways more familiar to their culture. There are cases of organization by village or kinship which also have had success.

*Appropriation, rule, and local conditions congruence. It is necessary for the resource appropriations and rules to be adapted to a local area. Ostrom stresses that it is not specific rules which are necessary for strong institutions but rather rules to which the members agree. Rules made by locals will inevitably make sense with local conditions.

*Collective-choice. It is necessary that all members have the opportunity to play a role in changing the rules. All those directly affected (i.e. irrigators) should be able to voice their opinions and vote. While officials are elected to execute duties, the real authority rests with the general assembly of water users.

*Monitoring. In order for all users to make a credible commitment to one another and fully cooperate, they must know their fellow users are not stealing. Monitoring may take the form of water guards or more sophisticated gages.

*Graduated sanctions. Penalties for those breaking the rules of the organization must be imposed by the members (or an elected board). The penalties should be commensurate with the infraction and could even lead to expulsion from the WUA. Such severe penalties deter users from attempting to steal.

*Conflict-resolution mechanisms. One of the beauties of WUAs is the ability to handle disputes on the local level. This avoids the tortuous legal processes in the judicial system and adds to the accountability among the group. The members are apt to make equitable decisions for disputes knowing they may be in a similar situation in the future.

*Minimal recognition of right to organize. Members must have the ability to organize without being challenged by external government authorities. In other words, they must be given true authority over their resource and the members in it.

As should be apparent, WUA are fundamentally a participatory, bottom-up concept. Though they have existed for centuries, they have received particular attention in recent decades as a development tool. WUAs have been organized in developing countries as diverse and distant as Thailand, Brazil, Turkey, Somalia, and Nepal among others.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Water supply and sanitation in Yemen — is characterized by poor service quality and low levels of access, the latter being almost as low as in Sub Saharan Africa for sanitation. Yemen is both the poorest country and the most water scarce country in the Arab world. In addition, the… …   Wikipedia

  • Water supply and sanitation in the Philippines — ervice qualityContinuity of supplyIn 2004, water supply was available on average for 18 hours each day in the West Zone of Metro Manila and 21 hours in the East Zone. According to their respective websites, the utility responsible for water… …   Wikipedia

  • Water supply and sanitation in Honduras — Water supply systems which use gravity correspond to 93% of all constructed systems. Mixed and pump using systems correspond to 4.5%. The scattered rural population intensely depends on about 15,000 dug wells. [… …   Wikipedia

  • Water supply and sanitation in Canada — is nearly universal and generally of good quality. It is a municipal responsibility under the regulation of the provincial governments, in partnership with the federal government. Water use in Canada is high compared to Europe, since water… …   Wikipedia

  • Water supply and sanitation in El Salvador — Access to water supply and sanitation in El Salvador remains low, despite recent increases in coverage, which leads to negative impacts on productivity and health in particular of the rural poor. Water resources are heavily polluted and the great …   Wikipedia

  • Water resources management in Bolivia — Source : National Program for Climate Change cite web url=http://www.pncc.gov.bo/esp/pdf/publicaciones/20 IVAR vulnerabilidad2.pdf title= El Cambio Climático en Bolivia (Análisis, Síntesis de Impactos y Adaptación) author= Ministerio de… …   Wikipedia

  • Water supply and sanitation in the United States — is provided by towns and cities, public utilities that span several jurisdictions and rural cooperatives. About 15 million Americans are served by their own wells. Public water supply and sanitation systems are regulated by state level regulatory …   Wikipedia

  • Water resources management in Brazil — The 1988 Constitution established a distinction between federally controlled water, for rivers, lakes, and lagoons across state boundaries (article 20), and state controlled water, for rivers and groundwater that remain completely within state… …   Wikipedia

  • Water supply and sanitation in Mendoza — The debate about water supply and sanitation in Mendoza has been dominated by the controversial private concession for the provincial water company OSM granted in 1998 to a consortium led by Enron. While the concession improved water and… …   Wikipedia

  • Water supply and sanitation in Germany — Source: Metropolitan Consulting Group: VEWA Vergleich europaeischer Wasser und Abwasserpreise, 2006, p. 7 of the executive summary [http://www.bgw.de/files/pdf/0.1 resource 2006 7 14.pdf] Concerning sanitation, unequalized tariffs are by far the… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”