Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
revolutionary legislations made by any government in the country' (ADB
2006: 51). The Act provides a framework for WUAs to be constituted with
well-defined jurisdictions, role, and functions of farmers' organisations and
the irrigation agency. It facilitates allocation of state funds to appropriately
organised WUAs.
As illustrated, the legislative legitimacy for WUAs can encourage collabo-
ration among irrigators, and between irrigators and government. However,
to retain a sense of empowerment to manage the resource for the collective
good, in keeping with Ostrom's principles, WUAs also need to have major
input on decisions about rules that apply within their group, participate in
monitoring, and compliance, even if at an informal dispute resolution level.
Incentives for collaborative water management might include: more clearly
defined entitlements; better understanding of reliability of supply (particu-
larly in over-used systems); and tradeable water entitlements (Baldwin
et al
.
2008).
Investing in community education and capacity building
Closely related to self-governance, communities can be trained and provided
with information and tools that enable them to better manage and use water
and take care of ecosystems. Investing in educating water users in such things
as how the water resource behaves; how use of water affects such things as
water quality, fish and vegetation; the likelihood and extent of droughts
and floods; interpreting monitoring information; and how to use water
more efficiently can contribute to achieving objectives as they adjust their
behaviour based on better understanding. Joint fact-finding was mentioned
in Chapter 4 as a mechanism for community engagement as well as capacity
building.
Investing in monitoring and research to improve knowledge and adaptive management
Where there is limited knowledge in matters important to water planning,
investing in improving knowledge can be done through installing monitoring
equipment, engaging communities to gather information, and engaging
experts to gather information and conduct studies. For information that
requires years to collect, an action in a water resource plan may be to collect
this knowledge prior to a review of the plan in several years' time.
For example, where understanding of groundwater behaviour is limited,
a government may install its own series of monitoring bores to measure
fluctuation in water level, chemistry, and flow direction. Licence conditions
may specify that individual licensees have a meter on their pump or bore to
measure extraction. This may be used for compliance to volumetric licence
conditions, however a major recognised benefit is for self-monitoring and
self-regulation of water use to improve water use efficiency. Metering can
also be used to determine where water losses occur. Similarly a plan may
