Water used in agriculture needs to be managed to bring the water in contact with the crops at the right time and in the right amount. There are many options for managing water, and indeed, for managing agricultural production, just as there are many options for governing people and nations. Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) refers to a management approach that embraces the involvement of the people who directly use the irrigation water: farmers.
In small-scale traditional irrigation systems, farmers' participation is a given. If farmers want to irrigated their crops, they need to work cooperatively to build a small dam or diversion weir to capture the water, and then a system of canals to convey the water to their fields. In most cases the technical demands of building and maintaining the irrigation infrastructure requires a group effort, and a management system comes into being to divide water, make repairs, and settle disputes. The indigenous knowledge underlying traditional irrigation systems is a theme within the Indigenous Water Initiative (see the webpage on Indigenous Water
Management).
Participatory irrigation management is a dimension of participatory development, which has been a reaction to the "top-down" development agendas of heavy-handed international agencies working with centralized government bureacracies. The irrigation version of participatory development makes explicit efforts to support local decision-making by granting legal authority to farmers for specific management functions. Typically these functions include the tasks of cleaning and maintaining the canals or pipes that convey the water, and the responsiblity for allocating water among the users, settling the inevitable disputes that will arise, and representing the collective interest of the irrigation users to the higher government authority (usually an Irrigation Department).
By granting legal authority and responsibility to farmers for managing their irrigation systems, or their sections of larger networks, local farmers can operate according to customary (traditional) rules and cultural norms. The social and cultural capitol of local farming communities is respected and supported. Irrigation management through participatory arrangements provides a basis for local initiative and cultural diversity.
Resources on Participatory Irrigation Management
International Network on Participatory Irrigation Management (INPIM), Established under the auspices of the World Bank in 1997, INPIM evolved into an autonomous NGO and is currently based in Islamabad, Pakistan. The organizaiton promotes awareness and capacity building on PIM issues.
Background Paper on Participatory Irrigation Management (PDF, 88kb). An overview of Participatory Irrigation Management, written in 2003
Development Support Center (India) Program on Participatory Irrigation Management.
DSC is actively involved in capacity-building for PIM in its home state of Gujarat and in several other states of India where irrigation policy reforms are taking place.