How to improve water governance in multifunctional irrigation systems? Balancing stakeholder engagement in hydrosocial territories

Ricart, Sandra; Amorós, Antonio M. Rico; Kirk, Nicholas; Bülow, Franca; Palom, Anna Ribas; Gamero, David Pavón

doi:10.1080/07900627.2018.1447911

Cited by 45 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 161 publications

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“…Managing water-related challenges to food production and ecosystems calls for novel approaches to water governance that promote stakeholder engagement and support innovative solutions to water allocation challenges [15,16]. While some innovative solutions are focused on developing more value, and their practices; and explores how this can inform water resource planning.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice in Water Resources Management among Smallholder Irrigators in the Tsavo Sub-Catchment, Kenya

2019

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The rising demand for food production in a changing climate impacts water resources negatively in semi-arid agro-ecosystems. In the Tsavo sub-catchment of Kenya, this is compounded by a surging population and expansion of cropping as a land use; leading to increased abstraction of surface water resources and deterioration of related ecosystem services. The impact of increased abstraction is more profound during water stress seasons when stream-flow levels are low. While water policies have incorporated a requirement for environmental flows, unregulated abstractions persist suggesting an inherent challenge. Drawing on a sample of 279 households, we analysed farmers' engagement in water resources management and explored how this can inform water resource planning. Seasonal water scarcity and user conflicts were the major challenges experienced by the farmers. Ordinal and logistic regression models show that knowledge, attitude and practices were culture-dependent being impacted by educational attainment, level of income, access to extension and membership to local networks. Attitude and practice were further influenced by land tenure and farm distance to water sources. Since knowledge of water management issues informed attitudes and practices, improved awareness and targeted extension support are necessary in the development and implementation of policy decisions on water resources management.2 of 17 water through centralised infrastructure, such as dams, others call for consideration of decentralised on-farm technologies and practices that safeguard ecosystems [7]. There is however, a concurrence that water management approaches must strike a balance between economy and ecosystems [3,17]. Water management interventions are thus perceived as delicate balancing act with many trade-offs, particularly in water stressed river basins where trade-offs are associated with high opportunity costs [8]. While less water for food may condemn many people to hunger, less water for the environment will undermine ecosystems [8,18,19]. However, with increased knowledge of water management, water stressed environments have higher prospects for sustainable agriculture [20]. Water-efficient technologies if integrated with appropriate agronomic practices have the potential to improve food productivity while safeguarding ecosystems [20,21].Water management approaches that focus on decentralised technologies, such as on-farm surface water storage, can improve food production without allocation of additional water from the ecosystems [21,22]. As a result, decentralised water management technologies have received renewed attention in many countries that have acknowledged their contribution in sustainable agriculture [22][23][24]. Moreover, agriculture is now considered both as an integrated system and as an agro-ecosystem, providing services and interacting with other ecosystems [7]. Transitioning to sustainable agricultural water management requires broad understanding and support for changes in water policies [25,26]. However, the proce...

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice in Water Resources Management among Smallholder Irrigators in the Tsavo Sub-Catchment, Kenya

2019

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“…This example meets many cases in which participatory irrigation district management has shown good results [1,50,51]. In reinforcing the importance of this issue, Ricart et al [52] present a study that analyzes how to improve irrigation water governance, bearing in mind the balances that must be involved. (ii) The supply water scarcity risk and the deficiency of the conveyance system lead to the need to install recharge pump stations from drainage water.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Developing Irrigation Management at District Scale Based on Water Monitoring: Study on Lis Valley, Portugal

et al. 2020

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Irrigation districts play a decisive role in Portuguese agriculture and require the adaptation to the new water management paradigm through a change in technology and practices compatible with farmers’ technical know-how and economic sustainability. Therefore, improvement of water management, focusing on water savings and increasing farmers’ income, is a priority. In this perspective, an applied research study is being carried out on the gravity-fed Lis Valley Irrigation District to assess the performance of collective water supply, effectiveness of water pumping, and safety of crop production due to the practice of reuse of drainage water. The water balance method was applied at irrigation supply sectors, including gravity and Pumping Irrigation Allocation. The average 2018 irrigation water allocated was 7400 m3/ha, being 9.3% by pumping recharge, with a global efficiency of about 67%. The water quality analysis allowed identifying some risk situations regarding salinization and microbiological issues, justifying action to solve or mitigate the problems, especially at the level of the farmers’ fields, according to the crops and the irrigation systems. Results point to priority actions to consolidate improved water management: better maintenance and conservation of infrastructure of hydraulic infrastructures to reduce water losses and better flow control; implementation of optimal operational plans, to adjust the water demand with distribution; improvement of the on-farm systems with better water application control and maintenance procedures; and improvement of the control of water quality on the water reuse from drainage ditches. The technological innovation is an element of the modernization of irrigation districts that justifies the development of multiple efforts and synergies among stakeholders, namely farmers, water users association, and researchers.

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“…In multifunctional irrigation systems, water is both a biophysical and a social resource in which water resources and end users remake each other like a hydrosocial cycle (Boelens, Hoogesteger, Swyngedouw, Vos, & Wester, 2016;Knieper & Pahl-Wostl, 2016;Ricart et al, 2018;Schulz, Martin-Ortega, Glenk, & Ioris, 2017). Supplementary characteristics include ES, multifunctionality, and integrated management of water resources.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Supplementary characteristics include ES, multifunctionality, and integrated management of water resources. In multifunctional irrigation systems, water is both a biophysical and a social resource in which water resources and end users remake each other like a hydrosocial cycle (Boelens, Hoogesteger, Swyngedouw, Vos, & Wester, 2016;Knieper & Pahl-Wostl, 2016;Ricart et al, 2018;Schulz, Martin-Ortega, Glenk, & Ioris, 2017). The implementation of both concepts includes political, social, economic, and administrative considerations able to develop and manage multifunctionality from an environmental perspective and ensure the involvement of end users in governing the commons (Caniglia, Frank, Kerner, & Mix, 2016).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosystem services and multifunctional agriculture: Unravelling informal stakeholders' perceptions and water governance in three European irrigation systems

2018

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Multifunctional agriculture (MFA) and ecosystem services (ES) are two important concepts in the ongoing debate on sustainable resource use. The aim of the paper is to test the ES and MFA nexus by analyzing the perception and predefined attitudes of key stakeholders in three Southern European irrigation systems. Data were collected through semistructured interviews, and the interview transcripts were codified using the Atlas.ti © qualitative analysis software. Our results illustrate that perceptions of ES go beyond those included in literature, and this provides valuable information about how key stakeholders interact with the environment in MFA systems. Second, most key stakeholders claim to be moving from anthropocentric agriculture to ecocentric rural development in order to ensure the sustainability of agricultural activity and to preserve common pool resources. Finally, the results show that bottom-up tools could identify the nexus between ES and MFA. Given our results, we provide a series of recommendations to managers be able to (a) improve comprehension of environmental services and functions, (b) enhance water user experiences and interests, and (c) encourage pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors in farmers. The paper also provides the research community with a codifying process they can use to define and improve informal and indirect references to MFA and ES standards.

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How to improve water governance in multifunctional irrigation systems? Balancing stakeholder engagement in hydrosocial territories

Cited by 45 publications

References 161 publications

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice in Water Resources Management among Smallholder Irrigators in the Tsavo Sub-Catchment, Kenya

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice in Water Resources Management among Smallholder Irrigators in the Tsavo Sub-Catchment, Kenya

Developing Irrigation Management at District Scale Based on Water Monitoring: Study on Lis Valley, Portugal

Ecosystem services and multifunctional agriculture: Unravelling informal stakeholders' perceptions and water governance in three European irrigation systems

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