POLICY OPTIONS FOR PARTICIPATORY IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT Farmer Organisations and Organisational and Procedural Changes WALMl WATER AND LAND MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE, PATNA in collaboration with IRRIGATION SUPPORT PROJECT FOR ASIA AND THE NEAR EAST Sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development IRRIGATION SUPPORT PROJECT FOR ASIA AND THE NEAR EAST ISPAN Technical Support Center Suite 300 161 1 North Kent Street Arlington, V~rg~n~a22209-2102 U.S.A Phone : (703)247-8730 Fax : (703)525-9137 INTEGRATED IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT RESOURCES Camp Dresser & McKee International Inc. IPRIME CONTRACTORI CARE Cornell University Development Alternatives, Inc. Harza Engineering Company International Science and Technology Institute, Inc. Training Resources Group The University of Arizona Consulting Engineering Services Ilndia) Pvt. Ltd. BIHAR POLICY OPTIONS FOR PARTICIPATORY IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT Farmer Organisations and Organisational andsProcedural Changes October 1994 WALMI WATER AND LAND MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE, PATNA in collaboration with ISPAN IRRIGATION SUPPORT PROJECT FOR ASIA AND THE NEAR EAST Sponsored by the U.S. Agency for International Development Irrigation Support Roject for Asia and the Near East Contract No. -289-C-00-704440, Project No. 398-0289 serving the Bureao for Global Programs, Reld Support, and Research U.S. Agency for International Development Washington, D.C. 20523 CONTENTS ... EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................ III ACRONYMS AND TERMS ............................. ix 1 . BACKGROUND ................................. 1 Introduction .....................................1 Irrigation Administration ............................ 3 Progress of Participatory Management .................... 5 Legal Position .................................... 6 Dimensions and Scope .............................. 7 Returns from Imgation ............................. 8 The Outlook ................................... 10 Government Participation ........................... 12 EXPERIENCES .................................. 13 Introduction ................................... 13 Paliganj Distributary ............................... 14 Garachoubey Branch Canal ......................... :28 Asarganj Distributary .............................. 31 Jamunia Branch Canal ............................. 32 Cominand Area Development Authority ................. 33 Minor Irrigation ................................. 35 NGO .FO Group Tubewell Management ................ 37 Organisational and Procedural Changes .................. 39 Human Resource Development ....................... 45 Important Issues ................................. 46 3 . LESSONS LEARNED ............................. 55 4 . RECOMMENDATIONS ........................... 63 5 . NEXTSTEPS ................................... 69 Program Continuity ............................... 69 Implelnentation Priorities ........................... 69 Inipleinentation Infrastructure ........................ 72 Environment for Administrative and Legislative Infrastructure ... 74 TABLES Irrigation Potential ................................ 8 Bihar Irrigation Revenues ........................... 10 Kharif Water Distribution in Paliganj Distributary ............ 23 FO Resource Mobilisation in Paliganj ................... 27 Features of Garachaubey Project Area .................. 29 FOs in CADA .................................. 34 Training FO Officers ..............................46 Impact of Discontinuity on FO Programme ............... 70 FIGURES 1. Irrigation Organisation in Bihar ........................ 4 2 . Sone Canal System ............................... 15 3 . Organisational Flow Chart for FO ..................... 20 4 . The Self-Evolving Process in Paliganj .................... 26 ANNEXES Agroclimatic Zones in Bihar ......................... 79 Irrigation Map of Bihar ........................... 81 Socioeconomic Indicators of the State ................... 83 FO Policy Statements ............................. 85 Draft Memoranda ................................ 89 Profile of ARPs in Bihar .......................... 115 CADA: FOs in Irrigation Management ................. 117 VASFA: A Case Study of Rural Organisation Building ...... 121 Extract of Task Force Minutes ....................... 131 Workshop Recommendations on FOs and OPC ........... 133 English Version of Gujarat Government Resolution Regarding Constitution of a State Level Working Group ............. 139 Proceedings of Workshop on Bihar Report ............... 147 References .................................... 151 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY According to the National Water Policy of 1987. efforts should be nladt: to involve farmers in various aspects of rnanagernent of irrigation systems, oarticularly in water distribution and the collection of water rates. As elsewhere in India. this broadstroke policy has not yet led to a concrete plan for the ilnplenlentation of participatory irrigation nlanagenient in Bihar. What is needed is a strategy for organising farrners into sustainable farlner organizations, rnoving and motivating the irrigation bureaucracy tlirough cha~lges in operational and procedural guidelines and staff training. and taking supporting measures for the policy objectives to be translated into programmes o~ithe ground. To move that process along. this report presents and reviews cxpcrieliccs ill Bil~ar in creating and supporting farmer organizations and introducing 01-ga~iisationaland ~xoce(it~ralchanges in the line departlnents that should promote implc~ilentatio~~ of t hiit policy. Exlxricnxs with Farmcr Organisation The Billiir cxpericncc iiild oI)s~rvilli011~arc t)ii~~dOII the 1i)ur ;\c*lio~~resc:ircll ~xojcctsin 1I1c lilajor irrigitliorl C~II~II~~II~St~ndcrSOIIC. Giindiik iind B;idllii S~S~CIIIIS. Direct ot)serv;~tio~land tllc secolldary data also 1)ecalnc ;iviiilal)lc ill rcsl)ccl ol' C ADA. stale tubewclls and NGO i 11 lllanagi ng group tutxwcll sclic~lles. Tllis lnatcrial provides alllple scope for working out strategies lo ilnplcnlellt tllc ot)jcctivcs of state policy towards effective farnlcrs collaboratio~l. Solnc of' tlic Inorc i~lil~ortantgi~idelines follow: FOs hold i mnlense pronlise for inlproving perfornlance of i rrigaled systenls and arc waiting to be constructively utilised. The jurisdiction of F~rnlersorganisation should not t)c il~iposcd but t~callowed to t)e settled by the farniers thenlselves. The farlners pcrceplioll 01' the area for managenlent control is based on the location of the proble~il tlley face. They fot~nd the control of head regulator of the distributary necessary for improving systems performance down below. That judgement should be acceptable. The organisational task and its burden on government functionaries can be substantially reduced if farrllers themselves undertake to organist: FO. This can be facilitated by macro to micro approach. taking the distributary as the inacro 1t:vel di~eto the farmers regular interaction in this system with ID functionaries. O~lcc. leadership at that level srnerzes. it can undertake orga~lisationhuildi ng at lo\{.sr levels of the sub-distributarylminor and the village with understanding and less effort in a much shorter period than anyone else. The functions of the FO should not be predetermined but should evolve as need for performing a task emerges. In one system, operations could be the starting point since it was causing the main problem; in another it could be desilting maintenance and repairs for early visibility of the results. Once the availability of water is improved agriculture functions will engage their efforts. The self evolving process will simultaneously facilitate capability building, resource mobilisation and, establishing necessary linkages. The task of FO intervention being approached with the twin objective of system improvement and resource generation, promises of prior system updating by government will be its negation. Resources for system maintenance must come from within the system and as part of resource mobilisation through a share in the water rate as also through additional measures of getting resource in cash and kind. This, additionally, generates a sense of ownership and a stake in the system. A formal legal status for FO gives it access to assets and services and provides it with bargaining power with the government and other agencies. However. the process of formalisation should be approached cautiously and necessary lead time should be allowed to lapse between the initiation of the process and the formal management transfer. The process of organising the product and resulting social change have to move together. The issues in replicability and sustainability need to be closely examined in terms of systems involved, area involved, socioeconomic groups involved, cropping pattern involved and diversity in approaches should be fully recognised. The sustainability in time is as much important as in the quality of performance. The present irrigation structure, functions of the irrigation hierarchies and, their procedure of work do offer some resistance to a change over to farmer managed systems. Even simple changes take frustratingly long time. An approach to change in this sphere making the line department users-organisation friendly is the necessary pre-condition for a sustainable programme of farmers managed irrigation system. The direction of work undertaken is right and the outcome is positive. It requires a greater thrust for the process to be speeded up and benefits to be stabilised. Bihar's shortage of financial