This document summarizes the key conditions for the successful implementation of Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) in India and discusses needed course corrections. The three main points are: 1. Critical factors for PIM success include the involvement of the Irrigation Department, establishing local leadership, and providing incentives. However, these conditions are often not fully met. 2. Several challenges are undermining PIM effectiveness, such as a lack of technical knowledge among farmers, inadequate water availability, and conflicts between head-reach and tail-end farmers. 3. Course corrections are needed, including clarifying water rights, ensuring water supply reliability, rehabilitating irrigation infrastructure, and empowering Water User Associations through training

1. India-EU Water Partnership
Workshop on Water Allocation, Water Economics and Eflows
In River Basin Management
14-15 September 2016, New Delhi

2. INDIA-EU-WATER PARTNERSHIP
“Why Participatory Irrigation Management is not successful
to the extent required and what course corrections are
needed”
Indian Network on Participatory irrigation Management
(IndiaNPIM)
14-09-2016

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वन्दन
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The clouds embrace the water lifted from the sea
by fast winds and pour down on the earth for
the welfare of all

4. CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESS OF PIM
1. Criticalness of canal water
2. Close Involvement of the ID (Irrigation Department)
3. Establishment of PIM Cadre/Core team
7. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
8. Legitimacy of WUAs
1. Assistance from NGOs during the initial phase
2. Right kind of local leadership
3. Provision of Incentives
7. Democratic Functioning

5. CRITICALNESS OF CANAL WATER
1. Plentiful or very scarce water availability does not
provide incentive to farmers to work together
2. Farmers do not take responsibility unless deliveries of
water are more suited to their needs in terms of
reliability, adequacy, timeliness and flexibility.
3. In some irrigation schemes, the share of withdrawal of
water for non-irrigation uses has been increasing which
threatens the sustainability of WUAs.

6. LACK OF RIGHT KIND OF LOCAL LEADERSHIP
1. Abusing the position, Do not work in harmony with others.
2. Politicization of WUAs
3. Farmers’ leadership can be weak inexperienced and faction
ridden.
4. Another risk is the elite-capture or domination of contractors
in the WUA leadership.

7. PROVISION OF INCENTIVES
1. Functional and infrastructural grant is available to WUAs in
CADWM Projects. Non CAD are deprived of this facility.
2. The water charges collected are not sufficient to properly
maintain the system & infrastructure.
3. Each State has a different system of collecting and utilizing
the water charges. This affects the financial viability of
WUAs.
4. No provision for a paid staff WUA functionaries who invest
their energy and time in WUA activities

8. CLOSE INVOLVEMENT OF THE IRRIGATION
DEPARTMENT (ID)
1. ID in some states like MP, Gujarat, Orissa &
Maharashtra do have close coordination with WUAs. The
situation is different in other states
2. It may also be the case that the Department personnel fear
the possible loss of their power and privileges.

9. ESTABLISHMENT OF PIM CADRE/CORE TEAM
1. For attaining participatory objectives under projects
require a cadre of individuals who have confidence in
the capabilities of the farmers.
2. Proper advice, guidance, aid and assistance can make
them capable to manage the systems.
3. Above aspects are missing in the ID Engineers.
4. At present the identity of WUAs is not known to the
other departments.
5. District administration and police department are totally
unaware of the existence of WUAs.

10. ASSISTANCE FROM NGO OR FROM OTHERS
1. NGO can play a very important role in motivating farmers to
form WUAs. A few NGOS are working in the field but they are
not sufficient.
1. NGO can be catalysts and facilitators in identification of
forward looking and progressive farmers to form WUAs also
can play an important role in formation and strengthening of
WUAs which is also lacking. There is a need of committed
NGOs and not just NGOs.

11. THE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING (MOU)
1. There is a widespread need for clearer water rights to be
given to WUAs.
2. This is essential because the sustainability of the WUAs
largely depend on their capacity to provide an adequate
water delivery service and control and to allocate water and
provide an improved service to farmers to enable them to
obtain gains in agricultural productivity.
3. some quantity of water should be assured crop season wise
to the WUAs. Irrigation Department should supply irrigation
water on volumetric basis which is lacking.

12. LEGITIMACY OF WUAs
1. Legitimacy is different from the legality.
2. In respect of WUAs, two instruments provide the legal basis.
The one, registration of the WUA and the second, the signing
of the MOU with the irrigation Department.
3. However, in reality what is important is the acquisition of
legitimacy of the authority of the WUA not only in the eyes of
group members and of neighboring villages, but also in the
eyes of the officials of government institutions and agencies
of financial institutions etc.
4. If the repeated complaints of a WUA about an inadequate
and irregular supply of quota of water do not rectify the
position, the water users lose interest and the WUAs tend to
become defunct. On the contrary, if the genuine demands of
the WUA are met, it grows, stabilizes / institutionalizes and
becomes a role model like; Ozar based WUAs and Datta
WUA in Maharashtra

13. CONFLICT OF INTEREST BETWEEN HEAD- REACH
AND TAIL-END FARMERS
1. Traditionally, the head-reach farmers tend to apportion
more water than required, whereas the tail-end farmers
often fail to get their share of water
2. Head-reach farmers, therefore, have vested interest in
continuing the status quo.
3. In some cases, powerful farmers use WUA as a tool to
serve their interest.
4. These differences in perceptions and conflicts of
interests inhibit the proper formation and functioning of
WUAs.

14. LACK OF TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE
1. Management of irrigation in large-scale schemes, requires
specialized technical know-how and trained manpower.
2. Farmers are reluctant to takeover the systems because the
technical aspects of its operation, maintenance and repair is
not known to them. Secondly the systems are not fully
rehsbilssted.
3. WUAs should be exposed to managing, operating and
maintaining the on-farm systems (below the outlet, or along
the minor) then they can think about moving up to help with
the management of the main system.

15. Proper monitoring.
• The functioning of WUA is not being monitored
properly.
• The presence of the irrigation, agriculture and revenue
department representatives in the WUA’s managing
committee meetings can make a miraculous impact.
Which is not happening.
• Performance indicators like season-wise water supplied
to WUAs, water productivity, agricultural productivity,
income level of the farmers, employment generation,
improvement in socio economic condition of the
farmers and improvement in water use efficiency are
to be assessed and make the mid term correction, if
required. It is not happening every where, so PIM is
not successful to the extent required

16. COURSE CORRECTIONS-1
1. Preparation of a model Act and the deficiencies in
existing PIM Acts be removed.
2. Clear cut Policy and Vision
3. Delays in Completing system transfer requirements
4. Delays in Rehabilitation Works
5. Lack of capacity building and appropriate training
6. Lack of Organizational structure of PIM at National,
state & project level.
7. Make functional and structural grant to all WUAs in all
irrigation systems irrespective of CAD or non CAD.

17. COURSE CORRECTIONS-2
1. Water fee fixation and recovery in the hands of WUAs.
2. Routing of share of water recovery charges through
government takes much time. The WUAs should be allowed
to retain their water tax share with them before depositing
water charges collected
3. Construction of field channels up to the last farmers field in
the tail end system
4. Maintenance of the conveyance system.
5. Irrigation agency to ensure specific quantity of water to be
supplied in all the three crop seasons in lean period
irrespective of the project is reservoir based or diversion
based or lift based.
6. Irrigation scheduling, rotational running of canals and water
distribution through proper Warabandi with night irrigation
should ensure that water reaches to all farmers’ field as per
their due share.

18. COURSE CORRECTIONS- 3
1. Lack of technical knowledge
2. Excessive draft of ground water
3. Empowerment of WUAs, Lack of legal support to
WUAs in water distribution rules, freedom to
determine water rates.
4. . Recognition of WUA in other departments of
state(particularly President and other officials of
WUAs)and issue ID cards by the Department.

19. COURSE CORRECTIONS-4
1. Recommendation of cropping pattern based on water
availability, land classification and climatological conditions
including package of agricultural and irrigational practices
suiting to the WUA.
2. Soil testing ,water quality testing , water table monitoring and
reclamation of salt effected soils, wherever necessary

20. शान्न्िपूववक सुनने के ललये धन्यवाद
Thank You