Participatory Water Management in Diverse Ecosystems, Prak-Nam-Dang Community

November 2019

PREFACE

Water is key to sustainable development. From ancient times, water has played a vital role in the existence of life on Earth. It predetermines the environment not only for people but also for plants and animals. Water is very important for our daily consumption, food producing activities, industrial operations, transportation, washing and cleaning, and habitation for aquatic animals. In a broader perspective, water has had a significant impact on development of human dwelling and whole society in history.

Management of water resources has thus become a priority. It is impossible to maintain the integrity of a balanced ecosystem without an overall strategy on water resources management. We all have a shared responsibility to protect surrounding rivers and natural water resources with transboundary arrangements, commitments, and agreements. Water stakeholders upstream and downstream need to be involved in management decisions. Participation from the society and non-government agencies is necessary for effective water management because water management functions are currently associated with various players and the government simply cannot play every role. A key challenge of a new form of water management is to balance the roles between government and non-government actors, and to readjust between regulatory and non-regulatory practices. A case of water management in diverse ecosystem of Prak-Nam-Dang Community in Amphawa District, Samut Songkhram Province, Thailand, is a truly challenging case as Prak-Nam-Dang is

2 located in the middle of waterway to the ocean, overflowing with canals, distinctively an abundant area with three–water ecosystem in harmony with natural tide. Local community harmoniously reside and engage in agriculture, such as rice cultivation and aquaculture. Water management of such diverse ecosystem with saline, brackish and fresh waters to serve different local’s need has been far more complicated than that of freshwater or saltwater alone. Royal Irrigation Department (RID) strengthened transboundary institutions by establishing Water User Organization (WUO), with a mandate to coordinate cross-border water management planning and implementation.

Narumon Wiangwang

CONTENT

-1- /CHAPTER 1 -8- /CHAPTER 2 Background Target group and Alignment

with the UN Policies -13- /CHAPTER 3 What is Participatory -21- /CHAPTER 4 Water Management Implementation and Obstacles

-31- /CHAPTER 5 Outcomes and Innovation -40- /Chapter 6 Evaluation -44- /CHAPTER 7 Resources & Stakeholders

-48- /CHAPTER 8 Adaptability & Lessons Learned

-52- /CHAPTER 9 Conclusion

-56- / CITATION

-57- / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

CHAPTER 1 Background

Prak-Nam-Dang is a sub-district of Samut Songkhram Province, a coastal province on Western Gulf of Thailand. Samut Songkhram receives water flowing from Mae Klong river. Being a low- lying coastal province, Samut Songkhram has over 300 canals in 416.7 km2. Prak-Nam-Dang itself accommodates a network of 36 canals that supply water for 3,915 people in 36.23 km2.

Prak-Nam-Dang sub-district

Samut Songkhram Province

1 Locating in the middle of waterway to the sea, overflowing with canals, natural ecology of the area is strongly under the influence of high and low tide all year long. Local people benefit from such diverse ecosystems of fresh, brackish, and saline waters ecosystems, and make their living on distinctively abundant natural resources where coastal mangrove forest provide spawning and nursery grounds for aquatic animals.

Canal Network in Prak-Nam-Dang

70 years ago, Prak-Nam-Dang was a place with pristine canals. Clean water provides habitat for diverse and abundant resources of aquatic animals. During rainy season, annual flood brings nutrient-rich sediment from upstream that serves as natural fertilizers in farmland. Rice paddy, vegetable, coconut, shrimp and fish farms clearly benefit from the annual natural phenomena. Although estuary nature of the area provides major food sources for aquatic animals and fish stocks, saltwater intrusion is one major problem to paddy field, vegetable farm and orchard. In the past, people built earth dikes to protect rice and freshwater crop and break it open during flood season.

Following Large-scale development, such as major highway and reservoir, natural water discharge has been altered significantly. King Rama II Highway is a major highway heading towards the southern region of Thailand. It runs through Samut Songkhram Province and unfortunately cuts Prak-Nam-Dang sub-province in half, which obstructs the natural waterway.

After the construction of Srinagarind Dam (1976 – 1980) on Mae Klong River in Kanchanaburi Province, the flow of freshwater from upstream decreased considerably, causing seawater intrusion and severely damaged agricultural farm lands and rice plantations, impacting the people’s livings significantly.

Unusual drought in 1978 worsen the situation. Chances of seawater flooding was higher in both the frequency and severity. Local farmers submitted petition to the King and requested the Governor to relieve the problem. In response to the request, Royal Irrigation Department–by Samut Songkhram Irrigation Office had tried to mitigate the issue by building regulators along canals of Prak-Nam-Dang in 1981.

3 Fourteen regulators had been installed to regulate the flow of saline water into 36 canals of Prak-Nam-Dang with an effort to improve and restore water quality and allocations. Controlled by irrigation officials, the regulators operate by raising their gates from the canal bed, allowing sediments, wastes, ammonia, and hydrogen sulfide to flow in with the water, contaminating the canal downstream. Additionally, the regulator system has eliminated any possibility to let the overflow runs as natural,

ruining the cycle of three-water ecosystem, and damaged brackish water ecology. Clearly, the Conventional Standard Regulator

was not the right solution to the complex ecosystems in Prak-Nam- Dang Community.

4 After having water management by irrigation officials with the use of conventional regulators, livelihood of Prak-Nam-Dang member was divided into freshwater and saltwater parts. Freshwater areas are usually elevated and the people tend to farm rice, vegetables, orchards and freshwater fish with utility of freshwater and prevent damages to agricultural crops by closing the regulators.

On the other hand, saltwater areas are low-elevation, people tend to engage in coastal farming, which needs clean and uncontaminated freshwater from upstream canals where natural flow of water merges freshwater, saltwater and brackish water together. Relations among people had been altered considerably.

Fresh Water Brackish Water

Flood Gate

F reshwater Brackish Water Saltwater

Rice & Vegetable Farm Area

Fish & Shrimp Farm Area

Conflict was initiated when people in freshwater needed to drain water from rice fields following the general practice, otherwise the rice would rot. Once all 15 regulators were opened, saltwater part were damaged by excessive and polluted water. The amount of freshwater and polluted sediment from canal beds affected aquatic farms,

5 contaminating, and instantly reducing salinity of the water, killing a large number of livestock, and causing tremendous loss to the saltwater farmers.

When the saltwater people opposed the opening of regulators, the freshwater people would be upset from rotten rice. The operation of regulators thus became the trigger causing disputes between freshwater and saltwater communes on fair and balanced water management and potentially posing a challenge to social vulnerability.

Bad situation had gone worse when larger volume of polluted water came from increased number of industrial factories along the new highway and the increased livestock farming in the Ratchaburi Province upstream. Freshwater commune could not bear much longer with the stagnant polluted water in the canals. There were cases of violence when people illegally unlock and lift the regulator gates open. Failure in management of water resources and ecosystems brought conflict among people in the community. After 20 years of cumulative unsolved problem, severe conflict has become social violence–fighting, beating, rampaging in order to open or to close the regulators.

6 RID effort not only failed to resolve the problem, but also initiated intense conflict among local people and caused damages to the valuable natural ecosystems in Prak-Nam-Dang Community. Said issues were prolonged and become chronic for over two decades until RID began to adopt Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) into its strategic plan in 2002. Without participatory mechanism, mutual agreement on the administration of the regulators could never been reached. The Objectives of the initiative are to use participatory water management, with the integration between the public, private, society, and academic sectors, to: 1) resolve conflict on water management in the community,

2) develop sustainable participatory water management in diverse ecosystems; and

3) strengthen Water User Organization (WUO) in the region for sustainable management of natural water.

CHAPTER 2 Target group and Alignment with the UN Policies

Target group The target group of this initiative is the local people in Prak-Nam-Dang Community including farmers, household, and other water users in both freshwater and saltwater parts of the community.

Alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Implementation of the Participatory Water Management in Prak-Nam-Dang Community primarily supports SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, particularly targets 6.5, 6.6 and 6.B.

Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation 6.5 By 2030, implement integrated water resources management at all levels, including through transboundary cooperation as appropriate. 6 . 6 By 2 0 2 0 , protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes. 6.B Support and strengthen the participation of local communities in improving water and sanitation management.

The initiative encourages relevant stakeholders at all level to fully involve in decision-making and implementation process of water administration through participatory water management mechanisms, such as Water User Organizations (WUOs) and participatory activities. Different levels of WUOs including basic Water User Group (WUG), Integrated Water User Group (IWUG), and Joint Management Committee for Irrigation (JMC) strengthen the participation of local communities and encourage transboundary cooperation (supporting targets 6.5 and 6.B).

Once collaboration was developed and all water management tools were implemented, the initiative successfully restored the balance of freshwater and saltwater back to their near-natural condition. Brackish water ecosystem, a spawning habitat for aquatic and terrestrial animals, was eventually recovered (supporting target 6.6). Moreover, the initiative developed the innovative regulator model (Hub-Puei regulator) that became the important water management tool to restore balance between freshwater and saltwater and can potentially be used in other coastal areas. Success of this initiative developed transboundary cooperation and return pristine diverse ecosystems to the communities.

9 Leaving No One Behind RID has the missions to manage water allocation in equitable and sustainable manners, and encouraging public participation in water resource management and development. The participatory irrigation management policy was implemented to strengthen network of all relevant stakeholders in decision-making processes of irrigation management at local level. The goal is to building capacity and encourage the participation of all parties in order to empower local stakeholders to make their own decision together and manage their own water resource through Joint Management Committee for Irrigation (JMC) by.

RID is moving toward transforming social policies into targeted actions. Prak-Nam-Dang is the prototype of participatory water management in diverse ecosystems area that did not encounter unequal distributions of wealth and of decision-making power, but ensure the respect, protection and fulfillment of human rights.

10 Participatory water management in Prak-Nam-Dang resolves conflicts among people on the administration of regulators by encouraging inclusive and collaboration of the local community in participatory water management. Regardless of wealth and decision- making power, WUOs meetings are forums with accurate and complete information, freedom from coercion, openness and empathy to alternative points of view, equal opportunity to participate, and readiness to accept an emerged consensus. With the goal to achieve inclusive and transboundary water management that addresses everyone’s needs, RID encourages Government agencies and other stakeholders to collaborate in the domain of leaving no one behind to ensure sustainability and resilience of local communities.

Addressing Gender Equality Implementation of Participatory Water Management in Prak- Nam-Dang Community provides equal opportunities for men and women to participate. Female participants actively involved in the participatory process from the beginning. Approximately 31% of all local participants and 35% of the local irrigation staff are women. The women participants are treated with respect. Local female have equal access to information and technology and equal opportunity to serve on the Joint Management Committee for Irrigation (JMC) as the men do. In addition to water management activities, the women in Prak-Nam-Dang community have equal opportunity to become members and receive equal benefits from Water User Co-op, i.e. annual dividend, loan with low-interest rate, health care, child education, etc. They also have freedom to choose their roles in the Co-op business, i.e. accountant, tour guide, restaurant chef, café barista etc.

CHAPTER 3 What is Participatory Water Management

Definition of PIM:

Participatory irrigation management (PIM) refers to the participation of irrigation users - the farmers - in the management of the irrigation system. It does not refer only to the tertiary level of management, nor does it refer to merely consulting with farmers. The concept of PIM refers to management by irrigation users at all levels of the system and in all aspects of management. This is the simplicity of PIM, and also its flexibility. We are not suggesting that one style of PIM is appropriate for every situation, that what works in Turkey will work in Egypt. But we are suggesting that management by the irrigation users, rather than by a government agency, is often the best solution. Instead of an initial assumption that irrigation management requires a strong public sector role, the PIM approach starts with the assumption that the irrigation users themselves are best suited to manage their own water.

David GROENFELDT and Peter SUN.

Inspiration from Community-Based Research (CBR) by Thailand Research Fund (TRF) Thailand Research Fund (TRF) is the very first public organization that work with the local communities. TRF provides for knowledge creation leading to sustainable development and prosperity of Thai Society. With more than 20 years' experience in research management, TRF has developed techniques and strategies in research

13 granting and management to tackle the dynamic and multifaceted problems Thailand faces. Multidimensional of the problem is a major challenge of TRF.

Area-based collaborative research of TRF aims at strengthening the mechanism for integrating development in each province by providing crucial information to assist in provincial-level formulation of economic and social policy options and decisions. Through area-based collaborative, the entire research management process, from the formation of research questions all the way through to the review of ﬁndings, has become a tool to open up the social space for collaboration and interaction among development partners. Area-based collaborative research is therefore highly responsive to the speciﬁc context of individual provinces and so paves the way for the application of knowledge by local stakeholders.

14 Community-Based Research (CBR) is a division under TRF with the main purpose to empower and strengthen local communities through research under the principle to “solve the problem of the people, by the people and for the people in the community.” CBR does not conform strictly to conventional academic research, but focus more on the participatory process of locals in identifying research questions, learning and searching for solution appropriate to local context. The opportunities of marginal groups are the priority. The researches cover all dimensions of community development, such as sustainable natural resource management, sustainable and organic agriculture, community history and culture, community health, community economy, local administration, alternative education, and community-based tourism. Most of the researches are conducted in collaboration with various agencies such as government organizations, non-government organizations, universities, and community organizations.

Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) by Royal Irrigation Department (RID)

The first voluntary water

user organization (WUO) of a reservoir built by the Royal Irrigation Department (RID) of Thailand was initiated in 1963

by the Regional Irrigation Office staffs in the Northeast of Thailand.

The main purpose of WUO was to encourage water users to meet to reduce water conflicts among users. From their beginning in 1963, the formation and operation of water user organizations has been adversely affected by policy interruptions, non- allocated budgets, and uncooperative public irrigation staff.

The reform of Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) in Thailand occurred in 2001–2003 when nearly all government agencies have been downsized and positions of retiring government officials are minimally replaced. RID incorporated PIM into its strategic plan in 2004 with the goals to encourage the efficient use of water in the agricultural sector for more sustainable result.

PIM refers to the participation of water users at all phases of irrigation management, such as the planning, operation, maintenance, monitoring, and evaluation of the system. It is important that RID staffs and water users have thorough understanding of principles, reasons, advantages, and roles, as well as the PIM process.

After participants realize the principles and usefulness of PIM and sign the participatory agreement showing the attention and willingness to participate, the first level of official basic Water User Group (WUG) is established. Members elect group leader, vice-leaders and committee, then the group regulation and agreement are defined.

RID staffs organize activities to encourage continuous understanding among water users, such as meeting, study tour, seminar or workshop for ideas and experience exchange, public hearing for more

16 details of irrigation water management maintenance, agricultural and decision making for water management at every level. Communicative learning can be achieved through rational discourse, which as a part of an empathic dialogue.

PIM activities undoubtedly contribute to communicative learning among local farmers by fulfilling the ideal conditions for discourse including accurate and complete information, freedom from coercion, objective assessment, openness and empathy to alternative points of view, ability to critically reflect one’s belief, equal opportunity to participate, and readiness to accept an emerged consensus.

17 After the basic groups (WUG) have strong bond, and irrigation water management are successful at water users’ group level, the water users’ group would be integrated and upgraded to Integrated Water Users Group (IWUG), water users association (WUA) and water users cooperatives (WUC), respectively.

Transboundary irrigation water management in collaborative level is established with the establishment of the Joint Management Committee for Irrigation (JMC). Representatives of relevant agencies in public, private, and society sectors participating in irrigation water management and maintenance at regional level join the meeting to know the meaning and the role of JMC, and also elect the JMC members. After election, it would be proposed to the governor to nominate the JMC. The orientation would be held for the JMC to understand their roles and responsibilities in details.

At the IWUG general meetings and JMC meetings, public irrigation staffs provides accurate and complete information to every stakeholder in order to allow for proper decision-making related to water management. The IWUG and JMC presidents not only encourage meeting attendants to voice their opinions but also introduce open discussion at the end of the meetings to offer equal opportunity for participation. Having an opportunity to listen to issues of other relevant parties at the meetings develops a better understanding of the interests of others, thus initiating mutual learning among stakeholders. Such mutual learning leads to jointly seeking a solution to maintain the optimal benefit for every stakeholder.

“Deep listening is the kind of listening that can help relieve the suffering of another person. You can call it compassionate listening. You listen with only one purpose: to help him or her to empty his heart.” - Nhat Hanh

18 Participatory Water Management in Prak Nam Dang Community After 20 years of conflict in Prak-Nam-Dang Community, people tried to find a solution by organizing a meeting to discuss the date and time to open the regulators, but to little or no avail. Until Mr. Panya Tokthong, a shrimp farmer from saltwater neighborhood, found a potential solution from Community-Based Researches (CBR) at one of the seminar he attended. He brought up for discussion among other saltwater communes and applied for a 2-years research funding. It took him two years for writing and brushing up his research proposal until he was granted with the research funding under regional arrangement from Thailand Research Fund (TRF) to conduct a 2-years research (2002–2004) with emphasis on participation of local stakeholders, covering dimensions of community development, a sound framework and being a learning process for locals.

The first meeting was held with an intention to gather all members of Prak-Nam-Dang into discussion, but it was not success as the difficulty in communication grew with the number of people. Staffs adjusted organization of the activities and divided them into six separate villages, which found to be more effective in bringing about understandings across the communities.

Staffs from CBR implemented research and worked closely with the community leaders in order to help people in Prak-Nam-Dang start engaging in compassionate communication. Participatory staffs facilitate small group meeting in the villages by asking a series of simple questions that help community people find out what is the real problem they are facing that create such a long-time conflict, and what are the root causes of it.

19 Achieving Mutual Understanding of the Problem: After each village groups are stronger, community forums were held with both saltwater and freshwater communes together for several times, with guidance of mentors from CBR. The data from forums were collected and analyzed. Communication was led toward the history of the community to point out relations among people in both freshwater and saltwater communities. It turns out that people having conflicts today were actually from the same family or related somehow. Relationship across local communities were constantly improved. Eventually, mutual understandings of the problem were achieved and potential solution was emerged.

CHAPTER 4 Implementation and Obstacles

With the objectives to 1) resolve conflicts on water management in Prak-Nam-Dang community, 2) develop a sustainable participatory water management in diverse ecosystems, and 3) strengthen Water User Organization (WUO) in the region for a sustainable management of natural water, RID initiated the project on “Participatory Water Management in Diverse Ecosystems in Prak-Nam-Dang Community” in 2004

Implementation RID – by Samut Songkhram Irrigation Office – integrated its roles and responsibility with society and administrative leaders, namely, Samut Songkhram Provincial Administrative Organization, chief executive of Prak-Nam-Dang Sub-district Administrative Organization, the local leaders of Prak-Nam-Dang community and general population, in order to accomplish the objectives.

21 1. Participatory Mechanism for Sustainable Development Taking benefits from CBR research, people in the community has gone through the process of finding the underlying cause of their problem. The Conventional Standard Regulators that RID built with an effort to improve and restore water quality and allocations were found to be the origin of the conflict. RID continued to organize participatory activities to bring the groups together and encourage communication among people.

RID staffs were trained to make sure that they treated local farmers with respect, welcomed every opinion at the meetings, and distributed equal information to relevant parties. These qualities of a participatory facilitator helped farmers feel the sense of belonging to the meetings and the participatory water management. Compassionate communication was practiced among local participants to develop a sense of solidarity that further social action. This generates a foundation of trust and self-esteem among individual farmers. Regular updated information from public irrigation staff at the meetings or training sessions additionally validates the fact that farmers are key players in irrigation water management and therefore instill a sense of ownership among local farmers thus promote powerful actions.

“Compassionate communication guides us in reframing how we express ourselves and hear others. Instead of habitual, automatic reactions, our words become conscious responses based firmly on awareness of what we are perceiving, feeling, and paying others a respectful and empathic attention. In any exchange, we come to hear our own deeper needs and those of others.” Compassion for ourselves and for others turns “me” into “we” and the magic of love returns to our opened hearts. - Reynolds and Ballard 2007.

22 Participatory activities aim at achieving more sustainable water practices among local farmers, which can be provoked by a number of factors including recognizing human dignity to initiate a sense of ownership, compassionate communication to develop a sense of solidarity, learning the cause-effect relationships of social and ecological benefits such as ecological design for habitat maintenance, learning to obtain technical skills and test new-found practices for achieving more sustainable water management.

23 2. Hub-Puei Regulator: Developing Solution with Local Wisdom and Participation

At one of the participatory water management activities, conversation was led toward what was the pattern of natural flow of freshwater and saltwater in the old day and how did people manage to live with natural flooding and saltwater intrusion. The answer was that local people constructed earth dikes to function as the embankment to prevent saltwater intrusion during dry season and break it down in rainy season to let upstream flood drain to the sea since the reign of King Rama VI. This way, water could flow one-way to the sea without long stagnation.

A participant, Uma Silawong, a carpenter whose house was located in front of the regulator where people frequently fight over the opening and closing of the gate, proposed an idea to modify the conventional lifting regulator to a swing regulator that would operate like an ancient Thai

Hub-Puei swing door. Similar kind of small-scale regulator that was used in shrimp farm to control water level in the pond.

24 This model of regulator would open to allow water on the surface to flow through and close when sea water level rises. That is, when freshwater or saltwater overflows, the gate would allow one-way flow of excess through pressure-dependent flaps. Not only allow excess water to drain passively without human input, this regulator also generates flow of water around it, which reduces sediment deposition. The bottom of the gate could be lifted (on mutual agreement) to flush deposited sediment and keep the regulator in function. The operation of Hub-Puei regulator could potentially maintain water flow back to its near-natural condition and thus restore brackish ecosystem. The new regulator model could also reduce argument among both sides due to the operation that mostly let the nature take its course, not to be manipulated to the advantage of particular side.

25 Ancient knowledge is not to be overlooked. The first two Hub- Puei regulators were built as the results of an integration between community local wisdom, technical knowledge of RID, and budget from Provincial Administrative Organization. The innovative regulators were adjusted by RID – Office of Engineering and Architectural Design to align with engineering design standards. After a series of modification and adjustment, Hub-Puei Regulator has finally become one of the RID Standard Design for Regulators. Hub-Puei Regulator in Prak-Nam-Dang has been the prototype for an incorporation of bottom-up knowhow into RID engineering profession. A few years later, 16 Hub-Puei regulators were built and installed in Prak-Nam-Dang Community and the surrounding with RID budget in order to effectively managed freshwater and saltwater in the area.

26 3. Restoration of diverse ecosystems With conventional standard regulator, when seasonal flood come during rainy season, freshwater commune would need to open the gate to let water flow through otherwise their farm would be seriously damaged. On the other hand, saltwater commune would be damaged due to the excessive and polluted water. Contradictory, during dry season, saltwater commune needed a flow of freshwater to dilute salinity and maintain suitable condition for aquatic farming, but the freshwater farms would want to keep the gate closes to prevent damaged from saltwater intrusion. Polluted sludge sediment from canal beds was also another major problem affecting aquatic farms and instantly causing death to a large number of aquatic lives in the canals.

With conventional standard regulator, when seasonal flood come during rainy season, freshwater commune would need to open the gate to let water flow through otherwise their farm would be seriously damaged. On the other hand, saltwater commune would be damaged due to the excessive and polluted water. Contradictory, during dry season, saltwater commune needed a flow of freshwater to dilute salinity and maintain suitable condition for aquatic farming, but the freshwater farms would want to keep the gate closes to prevent damaged from saltwater intrusion. Polluted sludge sediment from canal beds was also another major problem affecting aquatic farms and instantly causing death to a large number of aquatic lives in the canals.

27 4. Develop Mutual Agreement Construction without understanding is not sustainable. RID– Samut Songkhram irrigation staffs went on to promote an establishment of an Integrated Water User Group (IWUG) in order to carry on the participation in all phases of water management including the mutual agreement on the administration of all regulators. The IWUG was composed of four Water User Groups (WUGs) from the communities that were affected by water management in Prak-Nam-Dang, including Prak-Nam-Dang, Yi-San, Plai-Phongphang, and Wat-Pradu Sub-districts. Water user organizations including integrated water user group (IWUG), farmer group, water user association, and water user cooperative help manage water at the irrigation canals. Basic water user organizations, i.e. water user groups (WUGs) direct water at the on-farm irrigation ditches. RID supports knowledge and training on water management for water user network and continually facilitate joint assembly between communities and relevant public agencies as well as other participatory activities and field survey to enhance communication and common understanding. Correct and updated information were provided to the IWUG for their water management decisions. Once mutual agreement was developed based on common understanding, all stakeholders agreed to follow and the conflicts have been resolved.

28 5. JMC for Sustainable Participatory Water Management An ultimate solution of this initiative is to sustain participatory water management in the region. RID moved forward until successfully established the Joint Management Committee for Irrigation (JMC) of three provinces nearby that shared water discharge from Mae Klong River, including Samut Songkhram, Ratchaburi (upstream) and Petchaburi (downstream), in order to promote a higher level of transboundary water management.

JMC is the highest level of water management organization. The JMC consists of the representatives of water user organizations, regional irrigation office, local administrative organizations, and relevant public and private agencies that affect from water allocation. By being participatory, JMC activities are supposed to instill a sense of ownership in irrigation projects, influence sustainable operation and maintenance, and reduce conflicts among local communities and between community and public irrigation official.

JMC determined water management plan and the

controlling of irrigation mechanisms such as rate of release from dam and the open/close of regulators by

mutual rules and agreement. Water management in highly diverse ecosystem as Prak-Nam-Dang was made possible with social-public-private participation.

Prak-Nam-Dang has become the model for sustainable participatory water management in challenged diverse ecosystems and social conflicts by integration of government agencies and the community to achieve efficiency and efficacy in addressing the needs of the general public.

Obstacles and How to Overcome The biggest obstacle to conflict resolution is that people do not generally listen to others with an open-mind. Participatory staffs guide local people to overcome this obstacle by practicing “deep listening,” which generates empathic, trusting and solidarity. When people understand the needs of each other, mutual agreement can easily be reached.

Another important obstacle was the conventional “one size fit all” water management, which did not concern the unique condition of each area. This obstacle was overcome by implementing participatory water management that seek local’s needs and wisdom in order to finally “custom-made” water management plan that fits the context of the community. Community people are key players in water management, communication and knowledge sharing in participatory activities finally led to the development of an innovative Hub-Puei regulator which is the right solution to Prak-Nam-Dang community.

CHAPTER 5 Outcomes and Innovation

Participatory mechanism played a major role in the success of conflict resolution and water resources management in Prak-Nam-Dang community. Relationship building create harmony at individual, community, and relevant public agency levels. Sharing ideas for solutions, local wisdom, and technical knowledge were adopted throughout the process. After conflicts had been resolved, standard of living of the local community people improved significantly. It is common to see people voluntary participate in water management and canal maintenance activities, which protect and restore water-related ecosystems, and enhance job security for the local community in return. Prak-Nam-Dang Community now hosts the learning centers for visitors from other provinces and from all over the World.

Outcomes Major outcomes of Participatory Water Management in Diverse Ecosystems in Prak-Nam-Dang Community are illustrated on social, economic and environment aspects as follows:

Social aspect:

1) Resolution of 20-years conflicts between people in freshwater and saltwater communities by participatory mechanisms that bring solidarity to the community.

2) Mutual agreement on water management particularly irrigation planning and administration of the regulators was achieved.

31 Prak-Nam-Dang become a model of collaborative water management that achieves success by implementing participatory mechanisms.

3) Local community people return back to their hometown. Before the installation of the regulators, saltwater intrusion was so intense that farmers abandon their farms and migrated to become general employee in other areas. After Hub-Puei regulators were in function, saltwater intrusion problem was resolved and community people returned to Prak-Nam-Dang and surrounding communities.

4) Innovative Hub-Puei regulator is the pride of the society that reminds people of their success in collaboration and the treasure of local wisdom.

5) Natural environment and ecological systems in Prak-Nam- Dang and surrounding communities were recovered and reserved due to the shared value and awareness of local people in maintaining valuable complex ecosystems. Water quality was improved owing to proper water management instrument like Hub-Puei regulator, which improved livelihood of the locals in the communities.

32 6) Prak-Nam-Dang attracts press, research institutes, and visitors from public, private and social sectors around the World to admire its solidarity, successful engagement in water management in challenging situation, and the sense of environmental conservation in their soul.

33 Economic aspect:

1) Enhanced job security due to an improved in agricultural quality and productivity. Before implementing the project, quantity and quality of farm products were dependent on the amount of precipitation. Local farm productivity was poor and the size and quality did not meet market standard. After implementing the project, farm products not only increased in quantity but also improved in quality until exceed market standard.

For examples, rice productivity improved from 650 kg/rai (4,062 kg/hectare) to 820 kg/rai (5,125 kg/hectare) and the second crop was made possible in the same year, banana plantation improved from merely enough for household consumption to become cash crop due to the enhanced ability to plant on farm ridges and in between coconut trees.

2) Restored spawning habitats in brackish ecosystems improved abundance of aquatic lives in natural waters and provided additional income to the local from shrimp and fish catches in public canals (22 - 25 USD/day).

34 3) Farmers changed their cultivation practices to organic production. After agricultural productivity significantly increased, farmers reduced their chemical use on farmland in order to protect the environment for their community. Eventually, Prak-Nam-Dang gain its reputation and make large portion of income from high quality organic products.

4) Local people are able to produce homegrown vegetables which increase family income and reduced living cost. Household economy as well as people health and quality of life were improved.

5) Overall household income increased from less than 50,000 – 100,000 baht/year (approximately 1,600 – 3,300 USD/year) before having the project to 70,000 – 120,000 baht/year (2,300 – 4,000 USD/year) after implementing the project.

6) Benefit from strong Water User Organization (WUO) in Prak- Nam-Dang. Community Water User Cooperatives (Co-op) has been developed and provide financial aids, more job opportunity, as well as

35 additional income from Co-op businesses to the local. Co-op members receive annual cash dividend and part of the benefits was used to improve basic infrastructure in the community. Organic products from members were collected and sell at the Co-op shop and restaurant. In addition, after Prak-Nam-Dang became known as the prototype for participatory water management in diverse ecosystems and visitors came to learn from the local experience, community benefits from providing study tour and services, as well as souvenir, café and restaurant to tourist and visitors.

36 Environmental aspect:

1) Improved environment and natural resources, and restored diverse ecosystems back to its natural condition.

2) Less impact from polluted water and sediment accumulated at the bottom of the regulator.

3) Less chemical and toxic contamination in soil and water due to the shifting of agricultural practices to organic production.

4) People feel ownership of their water resources. Participatory activities provide fact and information that help increased awareness on natural resources conservation because they are sources of local food and incomes, and the need to pass forward to future generation. People take care of their canals and part of the Co-op benefits was used to support canal maintenance activities such as canal excavation.

37 Innovation The Participatory Water Management in Diverse Ecosystems, Prak-Nam-Dang Community is a PROCESS INNOVATION. The initiative began in 2002 when RID first adopted Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) into its strategic plan.

Success in conflict resolution of Prak-Nam-Dang had made it a national prototype for:

1) Transforming participatory policy into targeted action that empower local stakeholders to make their own decision together and manage their own water resource.

2) Implementation of participatory water management in challenging diverse ecosystems where the needs of community people in freshwater and saltwater parts contradict with each other until mutual agreement was achieved through mechanism of Water User Organization (WUO).

While Prak-Nam-Dang is a process innovation by itself, it also created an important PRODUCT INNOVATION, Hub-Puei regulator, which can potentially be used along the coastal area of Thailand as well as other countries.

38 Prak-Nam-Dang people are the innovator by nature. Local people continue to research and experiment for solutions to eliminate sediment sludge accumulated in front of the gate. The local people are developing and testing sediment suction dredging boat, which disturb canal bed and bank much less than the present excavating machine. In addition, suction boat would not stir ammonia and hydrogen sulfide from the bottom of canal bed.

Chapter 6 Evaluation

Internal audit by RID Socio Economics and Project Evaluation Division Internal audit conducted by RID Socio-Economics and Project Evaluation Division with 1 1 2 participants from the same four sub- districts indicated

1) The return of local people toward their hometown due to stable agricultural condition.

2) Household incomes increased from 1,600 – 3,300 USD/year to 2,300 – 4,000 USD/year after the implementation of the initiative.

3) An increased agricultural productivity i.e. rice production from 4,062 kg/hectare to 5,125 kg/hectare (26% improvement).

4) A restored ecosystem which increased aquaculture productivity including an extra 22 – 25 USD daily income.

5) An increased homegrown vegetables which reduced living cost and improved people health. In addition, owing to an improved water management, banana plantation which used to be produced merely enough for household consumption had become a cash crop by planting along the ridges and dikes providing extra income for local people.

40 External evaluation Evaluation and Performance Assessment of Participatory Water Management in Prak- Nam- Dang and surrounding communities was performed by an academic institute, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University. The evaluator presents the success and performance of the initiative on Social, Economic and Environmental aspects including Stakeholder Satisfaction, and summarize Challenges and Sustainability of the project, as well as providing recommendation for future improvement.

The study group composed of members and local people living in the area of four basic Water User Groups (WUGs) that formed Prak- Nam-Dang Integrated Water User Group (IWUG) (also called Ruam Jai Prak Nam Dang Integrated Water User Groups). The evaluator interviewed 250 local people from four groups including 75 people in Prak-Nam-Dang, 75 people in Yi-San, 50 people in Plai-Phongphang, and 50 people in Wat-Pradu.

The Closed-ended Questions (five-point scales) was used to evaluate the outcomes of the initiative on Social, Economic and Environmental aspects including Stakeholder Satisfaction. Furthermore, the Open-ended Questionnaire was used to collect challenges, suggestions and recommendation for future improvement. Firstly, the questionnaire was developed by a group of participatory water management leaders from the four IWUG sub-districts. Then, it was approved by three experts on local area, questionnaire review, and statistical evaluation. To assure its credibility, Index of Objective Congruence (IOC) was used to validate the questionnaire before testing it with 30 similar samples. Finally, Cronbach's alpha Method was used to measure the reliability of the questionnaire itself.

41 The main findings showed significant improvement in Social, Economic and Environmental aspects of the communities. Prior to an implementation of the initiative, average scores for social, economic and environmental situation of local people were 2.77, 2.66 and 2.73 (Scale 1 -5), respectively. After the implementation of the initiative, average scores in Social, Economic and Environmental aspects were improved to 3.70, 3.68 and 3.65, respectively. Similarly, Stakeholder Satisfaction was improved from 2.83 to 3.89 after the implementation of the initiative. The significant improvement of all aspects was proved by the paired samples t-test indicating a significant success of the initiative in improving livelihood of the locals.

Challenges in participatory water management in Prak-Nam- Dang mostly focused on water quantity and quality discharge from Ratchaburi province upstream and strong needs to search for effective water and sediment treatment methods before opening the regulators.

Sustainability of the project was evaluated by the level of success in improvement of Social, Economic and Environmental aspects as well as Stakeholder Satisfaction. The evaluation results revealed high level scores for all indicators, indicating that the participatory water management in Prak-Nam-Dang and surrounding communities is sustainable due to highly willingness to participate which showed in stakeholder satisfaction and the success of the project in all aspects. Recommendations for future improvement are as follows:

1) There should be an enforcement of upstream water quality to meet Water-Quality-Index level 3.

2) Government should provide an installation of water disaster warning system to alert farmers on sudden changes in water quality and quantity.

42 3) Further researches are needed on these topics: an appropriate timing to open the regulators, guideline for natural resource and the environment recovery, and alternate career for farmers when facing with seasonal disasters that cause sudden water quality changes in their farm areas.

CHAPTER 7 Resources & Stakeholders

Resources Resources used to implement Participatory Water Management in Prak-Nam-Dang Community were integrated from government agencies, local society, academic institutes and private organizations.

Financial resources including the budget for implementation of the participatory activities (i.e. meetings, study visits, canal maintenance, etc.) and the design, adjustment, construction, and installation of all Hub-Puei regulators were from RID, TRF and Provincial Administrative Organizations.

Human resources including public irrigation staffs, participatory staffs, and Community-Based Researcher was provided by RID and TRF.

Other resources such as water quality monitoring, equipment for canal maintenance, treatment tools for water and sediment, knowledge on production and marketing of organic products, etc. were provided by local government agencies, local society, academic institutes, and private industry in Joint Management Committee for Irrigation (JMC) area.

44 Stakeholder Engagement The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development puts emphasis on collaboration, engagement, coordination, partnerships, and inclusion. Participatory Water Management in Diverse Ecosystems in Prak- Nam-Dang Community was implemented in collaboration with various stakeholders involving on different roles:

1. Key Actor: Prak-Nam-Dang Community. The locals are the fundamental element of the participatory water management. Principle of participatory water management to solve community conflicts is that conflict parties must seek for the solution themselves. They are the ones who solve the problem of themselves, by themselves, and for themselves.

2. Network Manager: Royal Irrigation Department (RID) including Samut Songkhram Irrigation Office and Public Participatory Promotion Division at headquarter. RID supports communication and continuity of relevant participatory activities, such as public hearing, several levels meeting, study visit to learn from communities in other regions, canal maintenance, etc. As the network manager, RID staffs develop a realistic action plan for activities, implement, evaluate the progress and take note of lesson learned throughout the process.

45 3) Facilitator: Government agencies including

- RID–Samut Songkhram Irrigation Office facilitates staffs and budget for participatory water management activities, and budgets for construction and maintenance of Hub-Puei regulators and other irrigation construction facilities.

- Thailand Research Fund (TRF) by Community-Based Research (CBR) local office facilitates staffs and research fund for the participatory process of locals between 2004–2006.

- Provincial Administrative Organization supports budget for the first two Hub-Puei swing floodgates/regulators and canal maintenance equipment, and participates in participatory activities with the local.

- Natural Resources and Environmental local office and Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University (Samut Songkhram Center) support accurate water quality monitoring.

- Water Resources Department local office and other Local Administration Organizations facilitate canal dredging.

46 - Land Development Department local office provides Effective Microorganisms balls (EM balls) and other treatment tools for water and sediment.

- Department of Agricultural Extension, Provincial Chamber of Commerce, and Cooperative Promotion Department provide guidelines for organic agricultural production practices and marketing, etc.

4) Partnership: Academic institution and private sectors including Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University (Bangkok Campus) and private industry in the three provinces of JMC. These partner agencies conduct evaluation, participate in decision-making, respect the agreement, and provide support when needed.

CHAPTER 8 Adaptability & Lessons Learned

Adaptability The Implementation of Participatory Water Management in Diverse Ecosystem and the use of Hub-Puei regulator can be adapted to other provinces along the 3,219 kilometers coastline of Thailand as well as other countries that had made study visits (i.e. New Zealand, Japan, Philippines, Bangladesh, Nepal, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, etc.). The model for implementation includes the following processes:

First, local irrigation staffs make themselves familiar with the local people through informal small group meetings in order to collect preliminary and historical information of the area and search for community leaders. Then, larger group activities are organized for communities to learn and practice participatory tools together. After empathic and trust have been built, local participants were assisted to find the root cause of their problem on the foundation of principle to solve the problem of themselves, by themselves, and for themselves. Irrigation staffs then strengthen the local community and establish Water User Organizations (WUOs) beginning with Water User Group (WUG) and progress to Integrated Water User Group (IWUG) and Joint Management Committee on Irrigation (JMC) which is the highest level of participatory water management that truly empower the local communities.

Implementation Model

49 Key Lessons Learned The key lessons learned from implementing the initiative include:

1) Strong community leaders can make a difference. Due to the lack of funding and knowledge on the principle and approaches to achieve collaboration from different groups of communities, it took years for Panya Tokthong and Somboon Daengarun together with a group of community leaders to found conflict resolution by participatory mechanisms. Panya Tokthong believed the local know their own area, but government top-down plans were designed by others who has no understanding of the local needs. Therefore, he never gave up searching for approaches and tools until he found participatory water management as the right solution. The concept of participatory mechanisms was introduced to Prak-Nam-Dang Community via CBR by TRF funding applied by Panya Tokthong. The application proposal writing and revising took over two years. Strong leaders with knowledge and expertise, willingness to advocate for others, ability to lead groups, quality to build local-public-private connections, and experience in policy advocacy are ideal for community problem solving.

2) Local wisdom is a treasure. Participatory activities present opportunities to learn from the local. Uma Silawong used his carpenter’s skill together with the observation of drainage gate in shrimp farm to propose the innovative Hub-Puei regulator model. In order to improve the sharing of local wisdom in the future, participatory activities should be organized in creative atmosphere and local wisdoms should be recorded and shared to inspire other communities.

3) There is no “one size fits all” solution for all communities. Every place is unique in its own way, therefore, policy advocacy should be of a bottom-up characteristic. RID local staffs must understand

50 physical condition and assess the needs, knowledge, interests, and enthusiasms to participate of local people in order to “tailor-made” solution that truly fits the context of the community.

4) The pursue of peaceful conflict resolution must rely on faith and science. Any conflict emerged would lies on a body of knowledge that could lead to resolution. For Prak-Nam-Dang, the understanding of water resources and ecosystems in the community would eliminate an unawareness of the environment they resided in, and potentially laid a foundation of mutual understanding for problem-solving approaches.

CHAPTER 9 Conclusion

Success in Participatory Water Management in Prak-Nam-Dang was contributed from the following factors:

Community strength: In natural water management, community strength is vital. At heart, people of Prak-Nam-Dang Community, whether from freshwater or saltwater areas, were from the same family or related to one another at some levels. Despite the conflict caused by major developments that separate people into freshwater and saltwater areas, the sense of kinship was proven significant in seeking cooperation and setting differences aside.

Peaceful conflict resolution can be achieved through knowledge and participatory approaches on a strong community foundation, forming mutual understanding and apprehension of the conflicting problem and requirement of the other party without grudges.

Community leadership: The leaders from both freshwater and saltwater communes played significant roles in pursuing and encouraging the turning of participatory water management principle into practice. Community leaders also took the role on building participatory atmosphere and clearing the existing conflict, creating a climate of trust and faith among the community people. In Prak-Nam- Dang, Panya Tokthong, a saltwater community leader, and Somboon

52 Daeng-arun, a freshwater community leader, both strived for solutions to eliminate conflicts in the community, and utilizing mechanisms that build understanding among community members in order to gain support and cooperation. Qualities and abilities in communication, creative problem-solving, negotiation, and relationship building with local-public-private parties would aid in establishing participatory atmosphere where all stakeholders collectively desired to solve the problem.

Community culture: Prak-Nam-Dang locals are the people with nature of giving significance to preservation of natural resources. They are conscious of shared responsibility for the protection of natural resources, which are important to their own living and occupation.

Conflict solutions with shared benefits: Issues in water resources management in terms of water quality, allocation, deterioration, blockage, and drainage would impact all stakeholders, and create conflicts among people. The conflict resolution must result in shared benefits in order to gain acceptance and provide sustainable outcomes. A win-lose water management approach creates endliss conflicts that could accumulate and evolve into a chronic situation. Therefore, the persuasion of participation in the community to achieve a win-win solution would strengthened the cooperation to achieve the common goal.

CITATION

Jidapa Thirasirikul. 2017. Participatory Water Resources Management in Phraek Nam Daeng Community, Samut Songkhram, Thailand. PSAKU International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 35-42.

The Thailand Research Fund (TRF). 2012. 10 years Phrak Nam Daeng: Learning Process towards Reconciliation. Book (TH).

Wachiraporn Kumnerdpet. 2011. Challenging Institutional Frameworks of Governance: Learning from Participatory Irrigation Management in Thailand. In the scale of globalization. Think globally, act locally, change individually in the 21st century, pp. 174-185.

Mary R. Reynolds and Elizabeth S. Ballard. 2007. Make a Difference…with the Power of Compassion. Newton Junction, NH: Heart Productions & Publishing.

Royal Irrigation Department, Thailand. 2005. A Record of Irrigation in Thailand. Bangkok: Royal Irrigation Department.

David Groenfeldt, Peter Sun. 1997. The concept of participatory irrigation management. Medit, Vol. 8, No.2, pp. 45-48.

The Thailand Research Fund (TRF) Website: https://www.trf.or.th/eng/

Community-Based Research Division (CBR) Website: https://www.trf.or.th/eng/index.php?option=com_content&view=a rticle&id=15&Itemid=127

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This book was made possible with contribution and support from following parties:

Information and material support from RID–Samut Songkhram Irrigation Office Director Surachai Numnaphol and his wonderful team, i.e. Nakorn Arworn, Khwankamon Praramchai, etc.

Valuable insightful information provided by a former RID–Samut Songkhram official Sombat Wanitchinchai.

Initial Prak-Nam-Dang information from the RID Public Participatory Promotion Division Director Wiwat Maneein and his quality officials Sarayut Eimjai and Phatcharaphorn Khawto.

Panya Tokthong and his Prak-Nam-Dang community fellows are, of course, the ‘Heroes’ of this project.

Special thanks to Pongpich Yodying for the wonderful drawing and graphics present in this book.

And last but not least, encouragement and endless support from my boss, the Public Sector Development Division Director Nattapon Vuttijun and my fellow PSDD colleagues.

Dr. Narumon Wiangwang Public Sector Development Division Royal Irrigation Department

The END.