Water User Associations (WUAs) Community Based Organizations Shared Interest of the Members: Well Performing Irrigation System Reliability of water provided Amount of water delivered Timely delivery of water

Members – Farmers Water – Income Level – Tertiary/Secondary

Advantages of WUAs Taking Over Tertiary/Secondary Level Irrigation Systems Better Water Delivery Service: Flexible allocation patterns Monitoring of actual deliveries Better System Maintenance: Less damages Prompter repairs Lowering of costs: Investment costs Recurrent costs

Effects on Social Capital WUAs as an Expression of Common Interest of the Community: Facilitate democratization and empowerment by providing an organized forum for the farmers to address their common concerns and interests Increase the organizational density

Are Effective WUAs Enough to Ensure the Systems’ Sustainability? NO, Other Crucial Elements Are Needed: Appropriate legal framework Rational and efficient irrigation infrastructure systems Existence of a regulatory authority, etc.

Effective WUAs – Community and Individuals Individual Interest is a Strong Incentive for Sustaining Cooperative Arrangements Benefits Should Exceed or Should be Perceived by the Members as Exceeding the Associated Costs

Information and Attitude Attitude – Positive Cost-Benefit Balance – Cooperative Behavior Role of the Leadership in Helping this Attitude to Emerge Role of Information Activities (Working Groups, Focus on the Skeptics) New Organization – Other Organizations that Have Successfully Promoted Cooperation in the Past

Information Activities Focus on the Skeptics Field visits Seminars

Leadership Opinion Leader – Respect – Accountability Professional Staff – A Tool for Reducing Conflict and Overcome Problems Representation – Dismissal of Leaders A Catalyst whose Role Can Attract Critical Masses of Members if Needed; Ability to Solve Coordination Problems (Charisma can not be Replicated, but can be Improved when Trained…)

The Group Size The Group Size – Economies of Scale The Group Size – Transaction Costs The Group Size – Personal Incentives

Personal Incentives and the Group Size Possible Decrease of Expected Benefits from Cooperation Reduces Observability and Capacity to Impose Penalties Increased Anonymity (Deviations Become Negligible)

Enforcing Community Rules Credibility of Penalty is Critical Highlight Anti-Social Behavior

Effective WUAs Existing Functioning Organizations Internally Originated (Started Spontaneously) When Externally Originated – Need for an Institutional Organizer to Act as a Catalyst Adaptable and Flexible WUAs to the Local Reality

Leadership Charisma - training Size Local conditions – Build the trust Personal Incentives Focus on individuals